Flight of the Phoenix
by Le Kung Fu Dude
Summary: As a great tournament comes up, Po and his friends are going to take part. But when an old enemy appears with a team of new warriors, what will happen? Will they play fair or can they even be trusted at all? Will Po and his friends even stand a chance of winning against these new opponents? The Finals have begun.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hello there, whoever is reading this. This is my first story and I'm personally pretty proud of it. I hope you'll like it and if you have any feedback or advice, I'd  
gladly hear about it. :) Please enjoy this first chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

* * *

The massive wooden door opened with a heavy creaking noise and a red fox entered. The old Kung Fu Master wore his usual blue robes and had a sly grin was on his face.

The red fox walked through a dark hallway with various items on each side. There were paintings, sculptures, weapons and a lot of other things. But Junjie was only concerned with six.

At the end of the hallway, Junjie came to a circular room. The room was lit up by a few lanterns, which cast a dull light into the room.

In the room were six people, all very different. None of them knew each other, but Junjie knew all of them.

The six stood on a line, facing Junjie and as he entered, the six looked up and over at him.

"You might wonder why you have been gathered here," Junjie spoke and started walking back and forth in front of the six. "I'm here to answer that question."

"I'm sure you're all aware of the tournament that will take place next week," Junjie continued after a short while. "You six may not know each other, but you will have to work as a team – my team."

"I expect great things from you," Junjie continued. "Not from six individuals, but from one gathered unit."

* * *

Po punched forwards, but Monkey dodged and countered with a punch, which Po blocked. They stood like that for a second or so, then jumped backwards and as they were about to continue their sparring, Shifu told them to stop.

"Students," Master Shifu called and all six students stopped their training matches.

They all gathered in front of their Master and quickly bowed to him.

"Hey, Master Shifu," Po started. The red panda's ears twitched a little, then the panda continued. "We were just wondering if we could have one of the next days off to go see the-…"

"The Rising Phoenix Tournament?" Master Shifu asked.

"Yes," Po said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

"Because it was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Are we all going to go see it?" Po was now truly excited… even more than he was before!

"No, you're all going to participate," Master Shifu said, but barely had the last words escaped his mouth when suddenly Po freaked out.

"Yes! I can't believe it! We're really going to participate!" Excitedly the panda unconsciously started shaking Monkey in pure happiness. Monkey had no option to be shaken for a while until the happy panda eventually let go.

"Master, that is such a great honor," Tigress said, ignoring Po's babbling. "But why didn't you inform us earlier?"

"Because Po wouldn't be talking about anything else if I told you a month ago," Shifu replied with a faint smile. "Anyhow, this means that as of tomorrow, you will all have to train at the maximum of your abilities… _All_ of you."

"Yes, sure!" Po said happily. "Right now I have so much motivation! Watch out Rising Phoenix – the Dragon Warrior will come to win you!"

* * *

"There is a certain Master, whom I have a… dreaded relationship with," Junjie explained, still walking back and forth. "His students are some of the best in China. But I have faith in that you will be able to counter them."

Junjie stopped in front of the student furthest to the left. Junjie then started walking from left to right in front of the six, introducing them to one another. "Cobra… Eagle… Lynx… Jinshu… Gorilla… Stag…"

Junjie stopped in front Jinshu after turning around. The younger fox was a bit taller than Junjie and instead of red fur like a normal fox he had gray fur all over. "And Jinshu will be your leader."

Jinshu brought his right fist to his left palm and bowed for his Master. Jinshu wore, just like the others, some rather old and simple robes. Junjie did have in mind to get them some new robes for the tournament, but that would have to wait.

"Master, with the deepest respect," Gorilla started while bowing. "Is this tournament the only reason why we are here today?"

"Yes… but the reason why you six and not somebody else is here is because… You six are here because I have chosen you – not because you choose to come here." Junjie looked at the six for a moment, then continued.

"I'm sure you all believed that you had your own reasons to come here." Junjie got eye contact with Lynx, then Eagle. "And some of you may believe that you came here for… more selfish reasons."

Stag looked up at Junjie and Cobra couldn't help but feel that it was targeted towards him as well. The beetle and the reptile realized that Junjie knew why they were there.

"Master, when will the training start?" Eagle asked, a bit of anxiety in her voice. Eagle was the only female on the team, which at first had bothered her, but she had eventually just chosen to ignore it.

"Tomorrow," Junjie replied calmly. "You can go now… you might want to go to bed soon– we'll start early tomorrow."

The six bowed for their Master and started walking down the hallway towards the exit.

"Jinshu," Junjie said as the six left. "Can I have a word with you?"

"… Of course, Master," Jinshu replied and walked back over to his Master.

* * *

"So who else will be there?" Po asked Shifu in an excited voice, hoping to see and meet some great Kung Fu Masters.

"Lots of different people," Shifu replied calmly. The red panda was sitting next to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, meditating… or at least trying.

"Like who?" Po asked eagerly. "Someone we know?"

Shifu sighed.

"I know that Master Croc and Ox will be there," Shifu replied, eyes still closed. "And I do believe that master Chao and the rest of the Sacred Onyx Council will be there as well-…"

"The Sacred Onyx Council?!" Po asked amazed, making Shifu lay his ears down to shield them from the loud sound of Po's voice.

"Yes, they will," Shifu replied, opening his eyes and looked over at Po. "They will be the jury at the tournament."

"Now, will you leave me alone, so I can meditate?"

"Of course, Master," Po replied and ran off, still muttering various nonsense to himself.

Po almost couldn't believe it – it was his first major tournament and what tournament it was! The Rising Phoenix Tournament was only held once a decade and Po hadn't been there to see it the last time, since he hadn't had a chance to go to where it had been held.

"Guys, this tournament will be so cool!" Po said excitedly when he got back to his friends.

"Yes, but also hard to win," Viper said with a smile. "So, how about we get back to training?"

"Yeah, let's!" Po said.

"And there are enough disciplines to train for," Crane added with a smile.

"Disciplines?" Po asked curiously. Obviously Crane knew more about this tournament than Po did. Maybe the Five had watched or participated in the last tournament.

But Po had never heard about certain disciplines like that in a Kung Fu Tournament.

Crane nodded. "They made some new rule this year."

"How come?" Tigress asked curiously. Apparently Crane was the only one of the Five who knew about the changes.

Crane shrugged. "I don't know, maybe because of some of the younger members of the Sacred Onyx Council."

"Younger members?" Po asked.

Crane nodded. "Even though they are new to the council, their influence is still great."

"It'll be quite unusual then," Viper said thoughtfully.

"I think it'll be fun!" Po said excitedly. "I'm so going to enjoy it!"

* * *

"Jinshu… I hope you're aware of how much this tournament means to me," Junjie said. Jinshu nodded. "Then I hope that you will do your best – and that you will work with the others."

"But Master, I could have just participated alone," Jinshu said. It was obvious to Junjie that the younger fox wasn't a big fan of the term teamwork. Jinshu sighed and looked down at the floor. "Is it really necessary with the other five?"

Junjie nodded.

"Yes, a certain… other Master will be having six students at his own disposal," Junjie said sneakily with a slight chuckle. "So I gathered the others so that we could counter them. Also, the council changed the rules for this year."

"The Sacred Onyx Council?" Jinshu asked. Junjie nodded. "Aren't you part of it?"

"Was," Junjie corrected the younger fox. Jinshu could barely see a streak of anger glide across the Master's face. "But my hopes are that you and the others can bring me back into the council – after all, students are supposed to be a reflection of their Master's abilities as a teacher… But that is all, you may go now."

"Right," Jinshu said and bowed, knowing not to question Junjie's plans. "I'll see you later… grandpa."


	2. Training

**A/N:** And here is the next chapter! First I just want to thank everyone who commented so far for the nice words on the previous chapter - it means a lot and really encourages me to continue this story. :) Again, thanks to all of you!  
Anyways, I hope you will like this chapter as well - enjoy! :D

* * *

"Whew!" Po said in an exhausted tone of voice as he lay down on the floor of the Training Hall. Po and his friends had been training all day and now Shifu had finally decided to let them go.

It had been about ten hours of training with no breaks and it had gotten so hot in the Training Hall, so Shifu had actually had to use the Adversary dummy to keep the doors to the Hall open.

"I'm done," Po gasped in exhaustion. It was also one of the few times that Po had gotten to see his friends look very exhausted – they were used to more training than Po, so they rarely looked truly tired.

"Yeah, me too," Mantis agreed. "I need something to drink."

"Students, you did a good job today," Master Shifu said and walked over next to the lying Po. But Master Shifu quickly moved a few feet away once the smell of sweaty panda hit his nostrils. "I expect the same from you tomorrow."

"The same?" Po groaned, letting the back of his head fall back and hit the wooden floor. "I'll be dead before the tournament if we keep this up!"

"Well, panda, you have about a week to adapt," Shifu said, keeping up his somewhat stiff teacher attitude. "But I expect that you can."

"You do?" Po asked, actually a bit surprised. "Thanks, Shifu!"

"Don't mention it," Shifu whispered. "Ever."

"Oh."

Po finally got up and followed the others on the way out. He was completely exhausted still, but he had one more thing he felt that he had to do before going to bed.

He looked to the west sky. The sun hadn't set yet, but it wouldn't be long.

"Hey Po, we're going to eat dinner soon," Monkey said. "Are you coming too?"

"Sorry guys, but I have something to take care of first," Po said with a somewhat sneaky smile.

"Oh-ho, and what could that be?" Monkey said in a teasing tone of voice, adding a blink.

"Hey, not like that," Po said with a chuckle. "But I'll see if I can catch you later."

The tired panda hurried over to the gates of Jade Palace to the… staircase. Great, this wasn't exactly what Po needed right now. But he had to do it – even with his hatred for stairs.

And even on the way down, Po couldn't stop thinking about the tournament. It was the first time that he would take part in something that big, at least something that didn't regards saving someone's life.

Oh, how he couldn't wait to get there – and seeing the capitol for the first time would also be awesome!

Once Po had finally gotten down, he immediately set for his father's noodle shop. Po knew that it was about closing time, so he figured that there weren't so many customers at the moment.

When Po arrived he was happily greeted by the last leaving customers. Po smilingly greeted them as well.

Entering the restaurant, he found his father bringing some used bowls from one of the tables to the desk. Even without looking, Mr. Ping said, "I'm terribly sorry, but we're closed now – please come back tomorrow."

"Dad, it's me," Po said, chuckling. Mr. Ping almost dropped the dishes, then looked up.

"Po – my son!" the old goose said excitedly. After placing the dishes by the rest, he hurried over and gave Po a hug. "How have you been? You look hungry!"

"Well, I was planning on eating with the others later," Po said and scratched the back on his head.

"Sure you don't want a dumpling or two?" Mr. Ping chuckled with a raised eyebrow. Po stopped for a moment… he was hungry…

"Alright, why not?" Po answered, getting a happy chuckle from his father. Mr. Ping walked over to the kitchen table and grabbed a bowl of dumplings. "You know, I actually came to tell you something."

"And what is that?" Mr. Ping asked as Po grabbed one of the white orbs of deliciousness.

"You remember that tournament I wanted to go see some years ago?" Po asked as he started eating the first dumpling.

Mr. Ping nodded. "Of course I do – you wanted to go so badly… but unfortunately we couldn't. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it takes place again in a week," Po replied.

"Hmm? So you plan of going this time?" Mr. Ping asked curiously.

"No, dad, even better!" Po said excitedly after swallowing the dumpling, quickly grabbing another. "The Furious Five and I are all going to participate!"

"Wait, that means that you'll be going to the capitol, right?" Mr. Ping asked, sounding more surprised than joyful.

"Yes, of course," Po replied. "Isn't it just-…?"

"Terrible!" Mr. Ping said, surprising Po greatly.

"Why terrible?"

"It's dangerous, Po!" Mr. Ping said, switching to his usual worrywart mood.

"But dad, it's just Kung Fu," Po started, trying to calm down his father. But Mr. Ping was worried for a whole different reason.

"I mean the city itself," Mr. Ping said worriedly. "There may be thugs and gangs and-…"

"Dad, it's fine," Po said, trying to calm down his father. "I know how to defend myself – besides; I'm with Shifu and the Five, right?"

"But-…"

"Dad, I'll be okay," Po promised. "But I was wondering if you'd want to come along and see it."

Mr. Ping sighed in a sad tone of voice. "I-I'm sorry, son. But I have to stay with the restaurant."

"Wait, so you choose the restaurant over me?" Po asked, but immediately regretted it when he saw his father's sad face. "I'm sorry, dad – it's just… this tournament means a lot to me and-…"

"I understand," Mr. Ping said sadly. "And you'd wish that your old father could come and see you. And I am truly sorry, but I can't."

"It's fine, dad," Po lied with a fake smile, since he didn't want the old goose to feel sad. "I'll buy you a souvenir or something."

"Oh, that isn't necessary," Mr. Ping said with a smile. "Just do your best – make me proud."

* * *

Jinshu clenched his fist as hard as he could, focusing all of his energy into his hand. He then smashed it against the wooden dummy. The dummy was engineered so that it would spin at various points when hit, and so it did.

As one of the wooden arms, armed with a few metallic knobs, swung towards him, Jinshu ducked, made a spin, then countered the dummy with several powerful punches.

"Fancy moves, Gray," a voice spoke from behind Jinshu once he was done. The silver fox turned around and saw Eagle standing by the wall.

"… What do you want?" Jinshu asked after observing the avian for a little while. Just by judging her stance, he knew that there was something up.

"I want to tell you something," she replied and walked a few steps towards him, still keeping quite a distance between the two. "I'm going to follow you as a part of the team."

"I'm quite flattered," Jinshu said coldly.

"But not because of you," she said. "I'll do it because I respect Junjie."

"Fine by me," Jinshu said. He then raised an eyebrow and said, "We all have our reasons for being here, right?"

Suddenly the doors to the training hall opened. Junjie and the remaining four members entered. "Please save that for the training I have for you today, dear grandson."

Jinshu just bowed for his Master in response and along with Eagle he walked over to the others, forming a line before Junjie.

"Now that we're all gathered," Junjie started. "We will start the first official training session. I have brought you your first challenge as a team."

Junjie snapped his fingers and the door opened once more. This time five clouded leopards entered. Jinshu recognized them as his grandfather's own take on a perfect team – Junjie's Furious Five.

Standing between the two groups, the old Master moved out of the way and said, "Begin."

Barely had Junjie said it before the clouded leopards took on a battle stance. They all wore exactly the same outfits and they looked so similar that it would be a pain to distinguish them from one another.

Jinshu and the others took on a battle stance. As they did, Eagle pointed out, "I think this is where you act like a leader."

"Good idea," Jinshu said. "Lynx and Stag, take the one on the far right; Gorilla, the one on the far left; Cobra, the one on the right; and Eagle, you take on the girl."

"And which one is that?" she asked annoyed. Insulted, one of the clouded leopards growled at Eagle, which just so happened to be the one on the left – the only one that Jinshu hadn't specifically mentioned.

Jinshu took on a defensive stance as his opponent got closer to him. As the clouded leopard punched towards Jinshu, he blocked it with his right hand. Jinshu then flicked his wrist and countered with a punch with his left hand.

Jinshu then aimed a powerful kick at the clouded leopard, but he blocked it with hand. Quickly Jinshu brought down his leg, then quickly spun around in a circle and hit the side of the clouded leopard's torso.

Briefly Jinshu looked around. It did seem that these warriors that his grandfather had found were skilled – to say the least. All of them, even the tiny Master Stag, seemed to already have the upper hand against the team of clouded leopards.

To briefly touch upon it, the tiny stag beetle was fast and very hard to hit; the eagle's powerful wings made her able to fight while airborne; the great gorilla's raw strength seemed unmatchable; the lynx's fast movements and unpredictable attacks easily outmatched the bigger feline; and the cobra even seemed to know some kind of hypnosis, since he had an easy time confusing his foe with his tail.

To sum it all up shortly, the Five lost. Soon the six had knocked the five clouded leopards to the ground.

"Exceptional," Junjie said. He had been watching the battles all along and he had to say that he was satisfied – to say the least. He then turned to his previous five students. "You five, get out of here – you are no longer needed."

Grumbling various things to themselves, feeling let down and betrayed by their old Master.

"Who were those guys?" Cobra asked. "They were nothing but lunch meat!"

Being slightly disturbed by his somewhat literal and serious tone, Junjie cleared his throat before answering. "Well, those were the Furious Five – my Furious Five."

"And you just told them to leave?" Gorilla asked with a raised eyebrow, crossing his massive arms across his even more massive chest. "I take it you're getting rid of them for us… am I right, Master?"

Junjie nodded with a sneaky smile. "Indeed – I have no need for them anymore… not now that I have you."

"But wouldn't you have been better off if you had two teams for the tournament?" Gorilla asked, sounding very technical.

"I would have," Junjie agreed. "But the rules don't allow that – besides, no Furious Five can beat you – the Selected Six."


	3. Palace of the Rising Phoenix

**A/N:** Hi everyone! It's been quite a while since my last update, hasn't it? Oh well, I hope it's okay and that you'll like this chapter. I really tried to make it good. Anyways, I'll see ya' with the next update - enjoy! :D

* * *

Po almost couldn't believe it, if it wasn't because, he saw it himself. The palace before him was simply stunning! It was at least twice as impressive as Jade Palace, having golden tiles on the roof and a big golden phoenix on the enormous wooden door.

"Po, your mouth will be filled with dust if you do not close it," Shifu said, commenting the way that Po's mouth stood open in awe. Po closed it, licking his dry lips, but that was when he noticed that Tigress was doing the same, though not as much as him. Either way, it made him chuckle.

"Shifu… I can't believe I'm here," Po said, almost not able to breathe. "I can't breathe – will any of you catch me if I faint?"

"I certainly won't, Panda," Shifu said sternly. Po didn't really care if he actually fainted – as long as he got to get inside the palace somehow, he was happy. The journey from the Valley of Peace had taken a few days.

Actually Po and the Five had only had four days to train – the remaining three were spent traveling. They had all traveled by foot, much to Po's dismay, but they had all survived.

The hardest thing about the journey had been saying goodbye to Mr. Ping – at least for Po. The old goose had held a minor speech about how Po should watch out for mischievous and suspicious people in the capitol. Mr. Ping had even gone as far as to ask the Five to protect his son – which they had all promised that they would.

"Now, now, I believe we have spent enough time out here, let us go in," Shifu said and got Po out of his little stream of memories. The red panda walked up and knocked the enormous gate of the palace.

There was a moment where nothing happened, then soon the gate swung open with a very low, almost unnoticeable, creaking noise. Upon entering, Po, the Five and Shifu were greeted by a familiar face, as well as some unfamiliar ones.

The familiar one was Master Chao, the leader of the Sacred Onyx Council. The reptile wore the same outfit as the last time Po and his friends saw him… All around, he didn't seem to have changed a bit.

"Welcome," the reptile spoke. The three other people were most likely also members of the council, Po figured. "How was the journey?"

"Long," Shifu replied shortly and bowed for Chao, which was followed short by his students. "We are all honored to have been invited here."

A small smile formed on Chao's scaly lips. "It is an honor to have you all as well. Dear council members, I would like you all to meet Master Shifu and his students – the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five."

The other council members bowed for their guests and they bowed as well.

"Are you all well-prepared for the tournament?" one of the other council members, an otter, asked.

"Totally!" Po burst out, making Shifu shut his eyes closed and flatten his ears in annoyance. Just then did Po realize what he had done. "Oh, wait, I wasn't supposed to… Sorry, I'm just…"

"… Excited?" Chao asked with a smirk. "It is understandable. You are forgiven."

Po and his friends sighed with relief and Shifu let his ears rise back into their normal position.

"When will the tournament begin?" Shifu asked.

"The other participants have all arrived – you're the last ones, so now we can finally begin," the other replied calmly with a smile. "Tomorrow morning it will all begin."

"Wait, how many more teams are taking part?" Shifu asked.

"To be exact, only one other," Master Chao asked, greatly surprising the others.

"Only two teams?" Shifu asked surprised.

Master Chao nodded in a serious way. Suddenly his facial expression changed – it became more worried. "There is something about this that I will need to talk to you about, but it will have to wait till after tonight's dinner."

"If it is important, how come we cannot discuss it now?" Shifu asked, sounding somewhat suspicious. But Master Chao's facial expression quickly made Shifu not question him. "Very well then."

Chao looked somewhat nervously at Shifu's students, then back at Shifu. "Master Shifu, why don't you come with us and tell us a little about how it is at Jade Palace? I'm sure my fellow council members would like to hear about it."

"But what about my students?" Shifu asked.

"They will be shown around. Shui, if you would, please?" Chao turned towards one of the hallways as he called.

Soon a young otter appeared. He wore some blue robes with black trims and he seemed like he'd love to show Po and his friends around. "Of course, of course, Master Chao. Please follow me, Dragon Warrior and Furious Five!"

Before they left, Master Chao gently grabbed a hold of Shui's arm. Master Chao then whispered: "Please keep them away from 'the hall'."

"Hmm? If you say so, Master Chao," Shui replied, obviously a little surprised by Master Chao's sudden request.

* * *

"And this is the dining hall," Shui explained. The dining hall was enormous and beautiful. It was decorated with lanterns hanging from the ceiling and beautiful paintings on the walls. But it was still not quite finished yet – Po could see several otter palace workers, who were working on decorating.

"You will attend dinner here for the next few days," Shui explained. Meeting the eyes of one of his fellow palace workers, Shui said: "Well, maybe we should get going and leave these guys with their decorating."

Since no one seemed to disagree, the little group left the dining hall. Po couldn't help but wonder what other hall Master Chao had talked about. It certainly wasn't this one, since Shui had shown them it.

"So, how long have you been working here, Shui?" Crane asked. "Seems like you have for quite a while already."

"Yeah, I have worked here for… three years now," Shui replied with a smile. "But I'm still one of the newest workers."

"Really?" Po asked. "Are all the workers here, like, totally old?"

"No, it's just hard to get a job here," Shui explained. "You really need to know your stuff – besides, it's very prestigious to work here."

"I can imagine," Po agreed as the seven continued through the palace. Po noticed that Shui was leading them towards the palace's barracks – which they had already seen.

"Wait, you didn't show us everything," Po suddenly blurted out.

"W-what are you talking about?" Shui asked nervously. Obviously he wasn't the type to be lying. Suddenly Po realized it – it was a thing that the Jade Palace had as well.

"The Training Hall," he said. "This palace has one, right?"

"Yes, but…"

"Yeah, why haven't you showed us?" Mantis agreed, realizing the same.

Shui almost seemed to panic, suddenly making the biggest puppy-eyes any of them had ever seen. He looked like he could start crying any second. "Sorry! I'm so very sorry! But it was Master Chao – he told me not to!"

Everyone stopped and stared at the little otter. Everyone exchanged looks, very unsure of what to do – they just hoped that Shui wouldn't start crying. "Alright fine!"

"What's fine?" Monkey asked confused.

"I'll show you!" Shui cried.

"Eh… we didn't say that you had to…" Po started, but soon enough, the otter told them all to come with him. Confused everyone followed.

"Po…" Tigress said with a growling tone of warning as the seven walked across the Palace's outside area.

"What?" Po asked.

Tigress didn't reply – she was sure that Po had caused a mental breakdown inside Shui's head and now the otter would do something against his orders. This could get him thrown out!

The group made their way past the big phoenix statue in the center of the palace yard and finally came to a tall wooden building. There were golden phoenix statues on the roof as a pose to the golden dragons on the Jade Palace's roof.

"Here it is," Shui said in a whimper. "The Training Hall!"

The little otter was pointing towards a big wooden door. The familiar smell of blood and sweat escaped through the planks and the six warriors could clearly hear that someone was using it.

"That was all, alright?" Shui whimpered. "Please don't force me to show you around inside-…"

"No, Shui, it's alright – you don't have to let us inside," Po said. This seemed to baffle the little Otter completely… but Monkey understood as well.

"But…"

"If we enter by ourselves, it isn't actually your fault," Monkey smilingly interrupted Shui.

Shui stopped to think about it for a moment. A few seconds went by. Then Sui burst out: "Fine, but don't tell anyone about this!"

"Strange little guy," Tigress muttered with wide eyes as they all watched the young otter run off, announcing every rule of the palace staff out loud.

"Yeah, can't argue that," Viper said.

"Now, now, let's see what's…" Po was about to open the door, but Tigress' paw grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Po, I'm sure there was a reason we weren't allowed to see it," Tigress said. "Maybe it has a relation to the tournament."

"Or maybe they just don't think we can handle whatever training gear they have," Po suggested, completely ignoring Tigress' comment. "But we are ready – we are the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five! Especially you, Tigress!"

"Me?" Tigress asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, you!" Po replied, making Tigress jump a little in surprise. "You're Master Tigress – the most hardcore of all! You can do anything!"

Tigress said nothing in response, so shaking her hand off, Po opened the door. Finally the sounds and smells from inside the Training Hall were unleashed and they hit the six like a cascade.

Po was the first to step inside. He was amazed to find that the training mechanisms in this training hall were seemingly the same as the ones back at Jade Palace. But it just seemed like there were more of them.

Suddenly Po noticed the people in the training hall. It must have been the other group that took part in the tournament! But before Po and his friends could do anything, the other group approached them.

"Well, well," the one that walked up front said – the fox. He seemed somewhat unique for a fox, Po thought, when he saw that his fur was silvery instead of red. He crossed his arms and took one step closer. "Who may we have the honor of greeting?"

"Hi, my name is Po, the Dragon Warrior!" Po quickly greeted the fox in an excited tone of voice. "And these are Tigress, Monkey, Viper, Crane and Mantis – they're the Furious Five!"

Po and his friends then bowed to show their respect to the others, but quickly saw that it wasn't returned for some reason – they didn't bow. At first Po was a little insulted, but then he thought that it was because, they wanted to introduce themselves first as well.

But this was soon proven to be wrong.

"Well?" Monkey asked after a few seconds of silence. "Who are you?"

"I'm glad you ask," the fox said and put his arms behind his back. "My name is Jinshu. And these are Cobra, Stag, Gorilla, Lynx and Eagle."

Po and his friends bowed again, but they were surprised to find that the others still didn't return their bow. Po and the others quickly realized that they didn't because they didn't return the respect.

There was a moment of silence. Finally Tigress asked: "Master Eagle?" There was a tone of disbelief to her tone of voice and finally Po realized why – he also knew about another Master Eagle!

"Actually that would be Master Eagle the Second," Eagle replied with a mixture of annoyance and pride. "Master Eagle the First is my grandpa… If you really want to go into detail that is..."

"You grandfather is-…!? Cool!" Po exclaimed, also hoping that it could possibly loosen the others up. But instead it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Jinshu smiled faintly. "You six do realize why we're here, don't you?"

"To honor Kung Fu?" Crane asked.

"Quite frankly, they do not," Gorilla said with a snicker. "It seems like you expected too much, Jinshu."

"So you're not?" Po asked skeptically. If they were training Kung Fu, then why wouldn't they come to a tournament to honor it?

"Of course we are," Jinshu replied. "But that is not our main goal, since we don't _need_ to go to a tournament to honor Kung Fu."

"Then why are you here?" Viper asked.

"We're here to win," Jinshu said. He didn't sound cocky or anything – only confident and calm about it. "My grandfather has faith in us – I will not disappoint him."

"And who is your grandfather?" Crane asked. "Is he part of the Sacred Onyx Council?"

"That is for us to know and you to find out." Jinshu turned around and looked at his teammates. "Shall we continue our training…? That is, if those novices will leave us alone to do so."

"Hey, who do you call novices?!" Mantis asked, having already gotten annoyed by Jinshu.

"Gorilla," Jinshu said and looked at his primate teammate.

Gorilla crossed his arms and looked at Po and his friends, tilting his head a little to the left. "If I'm not wrong, Cobra or Stag should be able to take them down on their own."

"Hey!"

"But then again, maybe we should wait and see tomorrow," Jinshu said, having changed his mind. Snickering, he turned around and walked towards the Gauntlets of Wooden Warriors once again.

"Wow, they're not nice," Po said in a rather insulted and also somewhat sad tone of voice as he and his friends exited the Training Hall.

"Hmm… no, not quite," Monkey muttered.

"Guys," Viper said, trying to cheer the others up. "We shouldn't let this put us down, right? We should just do our best tomorrow!"

"You're right!" Po said, having suddenly changed to a more excited mood. "We're so going to show them! Let's do it!"


	4. Dining Danger

**A/N:** And here is the fourth chapter! This lacks a little bit of plot, compared to the others, but I had to occupy myself with this story, but don't worry; I'm saving it all up for the next few chapters. ;) So I hope you will enjoy this, if not, please forgive it. :)

* * *

Junjie smirked to himself. The red fox casually walked through the palace. It had been a pleasure to finally be there; the reunion with Master Chao and the rest of the council had been a bit tricky, but the reunion with Shifu had been quite thrilling.

Master Chao and some of the council members had been in a room, talking to Shifu about who knows what. Junjie had casually entered the room and enjoyed the council's reaction.

"Oh, I am truly sorry," Junjie had said. "I didn't know you were having another guest."

The expression on Shifu's face had been quite pleasing and Junjie had to contain himself in order to not smile.

Junjie was certain that Shifu was wondering why he was there this very moment. Luckily the two would have to attend dinner in the very same dining hall.

Junjie snickered lowly as he passed a few otter palace workers. It wouldn't be long now.

Junjie was dressed in a more attire more formal than his usual one. Black robes with white trims in order to honor the Sacred Onyx Council. He had had his new students dress in similar attires as well.

If Junjie was lucky, Shifu and his students hadn't. And if he was even luckier, the honoring through attire color would make a good impression. Junjie would need one, since part of the point in taking part in the tournament was to get himself back in the council.

To sum it all short, Junjie had to redeem himself.

Finally Junjie came to the entrance to the dining hall. It didn't look like his students hadn't arrived yet. The same went for Shifu and his students.

As he stood there, Junjie couldn't help but wonder how Po the Dragon Warrior would do against his grandson Jinshu. Jinshu, as well as the rest of the Selected Six, were all specially trained, just like the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five. But Jinshu had one gift that made him superior to the Dragon Warrior – his ability to make cunning plans. He had that from his grandfather, Junjie knew.

* * *

Shifu and his students made their way down the hallway, passing by various artifacts on his way. Just like Junjie, Shifu and his students had changed into a formal outfit. Shifu wore a jade green shawl with golden trims on top of some black robes.

His students wore outfits that looked like their usual ones – only difference was a pallet swap from their usual colors to golden and jade green.

Po was excited – for multiple reasons. First and least important, he was wondering what they were going to eat and if it was as good as his father's food.

On the other hand, he was also excited because this was one of the few times that the panda had actually gotten to wear an outfit as fine as this one. It made him feel special just by wearing it!

But then again; there was the food. Po was wondering if they would get…

"Po, you're drooling," Crane pointed out. The bird was wearing a jade green Kung Fu vest, somewhat similar to Tigress' usual one, unlike the others, who wore jackets. Po quickly snapped out of his own thoughts and wiped the drool away with his arm. "Thanks, Crane."

"Just don't dig in like you do at home, when we get into the dining hall," Tigress told Po. For the first time this afternoon, Po actually noticed what Tigress was wearing; a jade green silk dress with golden trims, matching the others' outfits.

It was the very first time that Po got to see her wear such clothes and most likely also the last.

"Why don't you usually wear dresses, Tigress?" Po asked.

"Because I prefer not to."

"But it suits you," Po pointed out insistently.

"Yes, it really does!" Mantis agreed. He was the only one who wasn't really wearing anything safe for some golden robes tied around his legs, looking like pants and sleeves.

It didn't take long before everyone agreed. Suddenly Shifu stopped, causing his students to do the same. "Of course it suits you – that's why I had it made for you."

"… Thanks…" Tigress didn't seem to think so herself, but it did help that her friends did. And what Shifu had just said also took her greatly by surprise. So it was actually Shifu, who had had their outfits made – although it was most likely tailors who had actually made them.

"Students, before we go in there," Shifu said. "I expect you all to behave… Po."

"Hey, why only me?" Po asked innocently and tugged a little at his jacket's collar, not being used to wearing such constricting clothes.

Ignoring Po, Shifu took a deep breath and carefully opened the door, almost like the way one would handle a cup of tea.

The seven entered a room with one, very long table in the center. The long table was shaped like a horse shoe.

The walls were decorated with various decorations, mostly some beautiful paintings and paper cuts of phoenixes. There were also different colored lanterns hanging from the ceiling and some small ones that hung from various ropes that hung across the hall.

"Wow," was all that Po could manage to say about it.

"Double-wow," Monkey agreed.

But that was when he saw him, standing there by the long table – Junjie!

"Guys, it's Junjie!" Po told his friends in a half-whisper.

Viper actually gasped. "But what's he doing here?"

"Shifu, it's Junjie," Po said – as if Shifu didn't have eyes himself. "Why is he here?"

"Look at the people around him, panda," Shifu said. "Then you might be able to figure it out."

Po looked around… then he noticed who they were; Jinshu, Eagle, Lynx, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra! But did this mean…? Did this mean that Junjie was also participating with a team of his own? Obviously it did! Now it all made sense!

"But…"

"No buts, panda," Shifu grumbled. "We just have to bear with it."

"But Shifu… I can't eat in the same room as someone, who tried to get rid of my Master! It'd be like eating naked, and-…"

"Oh, Master Shifu!" Po was interrupted by an unknown female voice. He looked to his right and saw a leopardess come towards the seven. She had golden fur all over with black spots and wore a black silk dress. Po also noticed just how old she looked and sounded.

"Master Ai Long," Shifu said with a smile. "It has been quite a while."

The two bowed for each other and just then, Po realized just how familiar she looked. It was like he had seen her before somewhere…

"Students, this is Ai Long," Shifu explained with a faint smile. "She was one of the original Furious Five."

"Wow, such an honor to meet you!" Po said excitedly as he and his teammates bowed in respect.

Ai Long smiled and bowed as well to return the respect. "No, the honor is mine; I've heard so much about how powerful you all are. But anything's possible with the right teacher, isn't it?"

"Ha-ha, I guess so," Monkey replied. "Shifu is the best."

"So very true," Ai Long said with a warm smile. "So tell me, are you all ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course!" Po replied.

"Oh my, Dragon Warrior," Ai Long said, both surprised and impressed. "Aren't you nervous at all?"

"Well, yes, a little bit," Po admitted. "But… we're just going to do our best."

"That is also a great goal," Ai Long said with a smile. Suddenly a familiar person came up to the little group – Master Chao.

"Welcome, Shifu, Furious Five, Dragon Warrior," the reptile said with a smile. "I see you're having a reuniting. It must have been decades since the last time you saw each other."

"Yes, indeed," Shifu said. "And my students haven't had the chance to meet Ai Long until now."

Master Chao looked around at the eight with a smile for a moment. "Do not worry, there will be plenty of time to talk, but I bet you are all hungry."

Just then Po's stomach growled so loud that the Council members that stood by the table a few feet away jumped. It also caused the Five to sigh, not being surprised by their friend.

Ai Long giggled a little. "I suppose we all are. Come my friends, let's eat."

The group and Ai Long followed Chao over to the table. Po and his friends sat by the right end of the table, while Junjie and his students took place in the left. The Council members sat in the middle.

Po sat down between Monkey and Shifu, discretely looking over at Junjie's end of the table. The Master and his six students just sat there; didn't talk; didn't look at each other; didn't have any interaction at all.

How boring, Po thought. How could they even be on the same team and act like they didn't even know each other at all? So in order to proof that they had a better team spirit Po and his friends quickly got into small conversations about all sorts of stuff.

Suddenly Chao stood up and everyone immediately fell quiet (It did take a little longer for Po and Mantis to notice). "First off, I would like to thank you all for coming; Shifu, Dragon Warrior, Furious Five and… Junjie and Selected Six."

Chao cleared his throat. "I want you all to understand that we have had our differences through the years, but we will all have to see past that tonight and the next few days. I expect all of you to play fair and follow the rules. But each thing has its time – now it is time for the feast to begin."

Master Chao clapped his hands once and soon the door to the dining hall was opened and several otters stepped inside, all carrying large plates – some even required two otters!

The dishes that were brought in looked delicious and smelled even better! Po quickly forgot about the fact that there was a hard tournament the next day.

As the first dish was presented – traditionally-made noodle soup with dumplings and spring-rolls on the side, much to Po's joy – something was going on by Junjie's end of the table.

Eagle looked over, got eye contact with lynx, who nodded in response.

The feline took his one chopstick with his right hand and made a quick flick with his hand. No one looked, and even if they did, they would have had a hard time see what happened.

At the same time, Tigress was about to put a dumpling into her mouth. But suddenly the dumpling was ripped away – almost as if it had had a thin thread around it.

The dumpling flew across the room and Tigress watched it hit the wall, expecting it to fall to the floor. But it didn't; it seemed that something held it in place somehow.

Tigress turned her head to see if anyone was acting strangely – she tried to see if she could spot whoever had done it. She couldn't see anything strange, other than Lynx receiving a new pair of chopsticks from one of the otters, claiming that he had only gotten one.

Tigress raised an eyebrow, immediately figuring that it was Lynx, who had done it. But when Eagle looked up with a somewhat cocky and teasing look in her eye, Tigress flattened her ears in annoyance.

Sighing to herself, Tigress returned to her food – she was sure they wouldn't try the same thing again.

At the same time, the warriors by Junjie's table snickered between one another at Eagle's idea (All Jinshu did was smile faintly and Junjie didn't seem to have noticed).

"The kitten didn't even see what hit it," Eagle said with a snicker. Po and his friends all heard this and nervously looked over at Tigress, waiting for a response from her.

The feline didn't do anything – she seemed to grip her chopsticks a little tighter now, but other than that, there was no real response. This greatly surprised everyone, especially Eagle.

"My, the kitten lost its hearing as well," Stag whispered to his friends, but Junjie quickly ruined their fun.

"Students, please behave yourselves," Junjie said, somewhat sternly. Junjie knew that he would have to make a good impression – and that meant that his students had to as well. The only ones, who had been doing a decent job this far, were Jinshu and Gorilla. They had simply just sat there, talking about all kinds of things.

"Sorry, Master," Eagle said, bowing her head slightly. Luckily for Junjie, none of the Council members seemed to have noticed anything.

All through the appetizer, people just sat, talking about the upcoming tournament. Once in a while, someone also told about a certain mission, training session or another important event. For example, Po told about the battle he had once had against some bandits in order to save some villagers.

Once everyone had finished the appetizer, Master Chao got up, calmly waiting for everyone to take note of this. It didn't take long before everyone was focusing on the age master and he soon started speaking. "Everyone, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the appetizer."

"That was just the appetizer?" Monkey wondered to himself; he was almost stuffed already!

"Now for the main dish," Master Chao continued. "The Palace Chef himself will present it for you all."

The door to the Dining Hall opened and a pig entered. He wore some white robes with black trims and smiled at all the Masters as he entered. He walked up so that he stood in front of the table, so that everyone could see him properly. First off he bowed. Then he spoke.

"Good evening, Masters," he said after bowing. He had one hand behind his back and held out his right hand towards the next dish that was carried into the Dining Hall. "My name is Zhu Huoyan. For the main course, we have Buddha's Delight."

As the cook started naming the many ingredients in the dish, Po got excited. He had never had this dish before and he was already certain that it would be tasty. Mr. Ping had once told him: "Half the taste is in the smell."

"And lastly but not least, there will also be extra tofu served for those who desire some," Chef Zhu finished. How many ingredients had there been, fifteen? Po hadn't been able to keep up with the little pig. Chef Zhu bowed again. "I sincerely hope that you will find my cooking pleasing."

All the Masters in the room bowed for the chef before he retreated to the Palace's kitchen, a smile on his face.

"Say, Shifu," Junjie called from the other end of the table. Master Shifu's ears perked and he looked up from his dinner. "Do you remember the first tournament that we were in together?"

At first Shifu was very skeptic about the question. Was he going to make fun of Shifu? Shifu did remember that he had messed up at least once. And that smile of Junjie's simply appeared too friendly… But eventually Shifu said: "Yes, I certainly do… quite a long time ago, I'd say."

"Indeed, it is," Junjie said, keeping up his smile. "And now our students will be the ones participating… Brings back old memories."

"Supposedly," was all that Shifu replied calmly. "We will just have to see how they all do – I'm certain that you have trained your students well."

"You too, old friend," Junjie said with a smile. Po and the Furious Five looked back and forth between their Master and Junjie as they followed the conversation.

None of them really bought into Junjie's sudden display of kindness – it just seemed false somehow, even though it didn't seem so. Besides, who knew if they could even trust Junjie at all?

It was probably all just for show in order to create a nice image for himself; Master Chao did seem to like it, so it was probably just for that reason.

Po looked back at his plate again. Wait; was there suddenly more food on it? He looked over at Monkey's; his was almost empty. Had he given Po some of his food?

"Why'd you do that?" Po asked confused.

"Because I need room for the dessert," Monkey said, putting up an innocent grin.


	5. The Tournament

**A/N:** And here we are! Finally starting the tournament! There will be a lot of diffenret matches and so, but if you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a review. :) Enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

"Come on, Po – we're going to be late!" Mantis called through the door.

"Just a second!" Po called. All he was really doing was just looking at himself in the mirror in his room. Po didn't want to sound selfish or anything, but he really liked how he looked.

The panda had received a mighty fine outfit, but very different from the one he had worn at the dinner yesterday. Po's tournament outfit was a pair of jade green silk pants with a golden trim. It was very similar to his usual attire, but the quality was much higher.

"Po!" Tigress called.

"Right, I'm done now!" Po called and exited his room. The room wasn't much to talk about – there wasn't other furniture than a bed and an end table.

When Po exited he was met by his friends, all wearing new battle outfits. Their outfits were all formal silk versions of their normal outfits in the same colors as Po's… much to his surprise.

"Wow, we all match!" Po said.

"Yeah, but we also did last evening," Crane said, not sharing the same amusement as Po as the six walked down the hall of the palace. The entire palace had a busy and somewhat stressed aura to it that day; all the otter palace workers were all running around, preparing all sorts of things.

"Guys, they've already started," Tigress said once the six exited the front door of the palace. Tigress was referring to the loud drums that played from the nearby arena.

"Don't worry, Tigress," Po said confidently. "They cannot start without us!"

Making their way down the magnificent staircase, with golden phoenix statues on each side, Po and his friends headed directly for the Arena of the Sacred Flame.

Even from afar, it looked different from the little arena they had at Jade Palace. This one was way, way, bigger, surrounded by tall walls.

"Alright, Shifu said that we had to use the Warrior Gate on the left," Mantis said, pointing towards the left. The six warriors hurried to the gate, stopping to listen to what was happening on the other side.

Just as Po pressed his ear against the gate, he heard a familiar voice say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Arena of the Sacred Flame for the second Tournament of the Rising Phoenix! This is a big day! May the contestants do their best and may the best win!"

Master Chao took a break as the crowd started cheering. After a moment, he continued, "The jury will determine the winners and we will be playing by the standard tournament rules!"

As the crowd went wild again, Po turned to his friends. "Guys, I don't know any tournament rules!"

Monkey and Tigress slapped their foreheads and Crane's lower part of his beak dropped.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Tigress asked annoyed.

"I didn't want to sound stupid!"

"But now you're going to look stupid!" Monkey said.

"And now, we will welcome our contestants!" As soon as these words had left Master Chao's mouth, the gate was opened. Po's heart immediately started beating faster. He hadn't given it much thought, but now it was finally happening!

Po and his friends entered and then it struck him briefly; he couldn't do this! All those people! What if he messed up? He would embarrass Shifu and his friends…

No wait: he had been through worse situations where he had not messed up!

Yeah, of course we can do this, Po thought as he entered. Suddenly he noticed a familiar face on the front row. He immediately recognized the gray feathers and the bushy eyebrows as well as the warm smile.

"Dad?" Po whispered to himself. What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to-…? No, wait, it had all been a build-up for this surprise! Of course!

"Come one, son – you can do it!" Mr. Ping cheered.

Po smiled at his dad for a moment, then continued towards the tribune, which was designated for the Sacred Onyx Council.

Po and his friends walked up to the Selected Six and formed a long line of warriors, facing the Council. Po stood next to Jinshu, who seemed to completely ignore the crowd and everything around him – almost as if none of it mattered to him.

"Grandmasters, introduce the contestants!" Master Chao said. Suddenly Shifu and Junjie entered the field. It seemed a little untraditional, as far as Po knew. The two Grandmasters bowed for the Council quickly. Then Junjie started.

"Honored Onyx Council, allow me to introduce: Cobra! Stag! Gorilla! Lynx! Eagle! And Jinshu – the Selected Six!"

The crowd started cheering. Obviously it seemed that the Selected Six were favorites. It did put Po's mood down for a short while. But then Shifu stepped forwards.

"Honored Council and spectators; I bring you Mantis! Viper! Crane! Monkey! Tigress! And Po – the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior!"

At this, the crowd went completely insane. It was as if each spectator was an entire tribune! Po forgot what he had thought earlier and realized that he and his friends were the favorites of this tournament; at least this far.

"Very well then!" Master Chao had to shout in order to be audible over the large crowd. "The Sacred Onyx Council wishes all warriors the best of luck! Let the tournament… begin!"

The very moment Master Chao said this, fireworks were fired into the sky, making confetti rain over the crowds and the spectators went wild again.

I could get used to this, Po thought to himself with a smile. This wasn't so bad after all!

"The first discipline is Teamwork!" an old-looking otter said, looking at a scroll. He wore some black robes with crimson trims, and he somewhat appeared familiar to Po.

"Teamwork?" Jinshu muttered confused.

"The task: Successfully perform a team-required technique!" the otter shouted. "Masters of the Jade Palace are first!"

"Students," Shifu said determinedly and turned towards his students as the Selected Six and Junjie went to sit on some benches in front of the Council's spectator seats, facing Shifu and the others.

"You already know what to do," Shifu said strictly. "The Pyramid of Fortitude."

"But we haven't practiced that for like ever!" Po protested, but quickly faced that there weren't many options – they didn't know many team-based techniques despite how long they had been together.

"We can still do it," Tigress said confidently and calmly. "Just no pirouettes, Po."

"Hey, that was only one time!" Po said with a slight chuckle. The six warriors walked to the middle of the arena, preparing themselves to perform the move.

Standing on a line with their arms behind their backs, the six faced the Council as well as their Master and the competitive team.

"What move will you perform?" Master Chao asked.

"We will show you the Pyramid of Fortitude," Po replied. Master Chao looked a little surprised, but he looked very little amused, due to the classic move.

"So shall it be," the otter next to Chao said. "Begin!"

Po and the Furious Five quickly bowed to the Council, then Tigress, Monkey and Crane formed a line. One after one, they all jumped to the side; Tigress to the left and Monkey to the right.

After a short series of poses, with a cheering crowd in the background, Tigress and Monkey held onto each other's hands, forming the bottom of the Pyramid. Landing elegantly on one foot with his wings above his head, Crane formed the next segment. Soon Viper and Mantis joined as well on top of Crane's hat.

Now it was Po's turn. He took a quick deep breath, then jumped forwards, landing on his hands, then using the strength in his arms to push himself off the ground with several flips in the air. He amazingly managed to land on top of Mantis' claws, completing the Pyramid of Fortitude.

Watching from the sidelines, Shifu was proud and satisfied with the result of his students' perfect performance of the move. Junjie on the other hand wasn't very amused – and neither were his students.

"How retro of them," Eagle commented.

"Yeah, that move is on crutches!" "It's funny because it's true," Cobra and Stag agreed.

Master Chao looked to the side at the otter and at Ai Long. The three talked for a while and meanwhile Po turned to his friends.

"Look guys, it went perfect!" he said happily.

"You better save the celebration for a little while," Crane said, sounding somewhat anxious.

"What, why?"

"Because it's time for the points to be given now," Tigress replied, putting her arms behind her back.

"Points?" Po muttered. Now he felt the nervousness returned. What if they didn't like it?! Or what if they had actually accidentally messed up during their performance?!

"Well, quite a remarkable level of perfection," Master Chao finally said, resulting in a cheer from the crowd. "Do you have anything to add, Master Zihao?"

The otter beside Master Chao seemed to think about it for a moment. "Not much… other than the fact that it is quite a classic… but it is still very enjoyable to see it being used at this day and age."

The crowd cheered for a while, and suddenly Master Chao surprised Po and his friends; "And now the Selected Six will perform their move."

"Wait, weren't we supposed to get points now?" Po asked confused as the crowd started cheering.

"I guess so," Crane replied.

"You don't know?"

"None of us know, Po," Monkey replied.

"We only watched the previous tournament and even then, the rules were different," Viper explained with a nod.

"Hmm…" It all appeared strange to Po… but he was sure Master Chao and the rest of the Council had it all under control. So he and his friends just walked over to the bench to watch the opposing team.

"Highly honored Council," Jinshu started, hands on his back. "My teammates and I will be performing the Double-Trinity Devine."

"I've never heard of that technique before," Po pointed out, scratching the back of his head.

"Quite exciting, isn't it, panda?" Junjie asked with a snicker from his seat above the six benched warriors.

"I guess…"

"Very well," Master Chao said. "Begin!"

Forming a line with Jinshu in the middle, the Selected Six bowed for the Onyx Council.

Jinshu struck a battle pose then switched to another one, which he kept up as Eagle and Lynx on each of his sides also struck various poses. Finally the three jumped high into the air with a very slow backflip.

From Po's perspective it didn't look like they would be able to make the backflips. Po then looked down and saw Cobra, Stag and Gorilla strike various poses as well.

Looking up again, Po saw that, amazingly enough, Jinshu and the others did manage the backflips. They then landed in between the others, facing the opposite direction.

As the crowd cheered, the Selected Six started running. Jinshu, Eagle and Lynx ran in one direction, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra in another. After a few meters, they all jumped. They almost seemed to fly backwards against one another!

While the Six were in the air, they suddenly made backflips with half-spins as well, so that they were flying towards each other with their feet first. Finally meeting, hitting each other's feet with a kick, they all finally landed after doing a backflip.

The crowd went wild at this, Po and the Furious Five's (Even Tigress') jaw dropped and Shifu's ears got into a very awkward position. How had that move been possible?! It must have taken years of training! Even so, how were the Six able to coordinate without looking at each other at all – they barely did!

"Quite impressive," Master Chao said with a smile, clapping along with the crowd. "Not a move we see very often."

"Indeed," Master Zihao said, sounding very amused. "And a rather original pick, if you ask me."

"But the Pyramid of Fortitude is a classic," Master Ai Long tried to say, but the other council members seemed to ignore her. She just sighed and decided that it wasn't worth it to try and convince them.

"I'd say that this round goes to Junjie and the Selected Six," Master Chao announced, causing uproar amongst the crowd – both applauses and cheers, but also complaints (Especially from Mr. Ping's seat).

"Wait, they just judge everything like that?" Po asked confused, not really seeing any structural critique.

"They take a lot of things into account," Shifu replied calmly as the Selected Six walked over to sit down by their Master. "So it's only fair."

Po thought that it sounded like Shifu was already giving up… But hey; they still had more disciplines to compete in, right?

"Honored guests and contestants!" Master Chao started. "We will now move onto the next discipline: Balance!"


	6. A Matter of Balance

**A/N:** Hello everyone! It is I, Le Kung Fu Dude, bringing you yet another chapter! Thanks for all of the support and the reviews I've gotten this far - it really motivates me to continue! So I've decided that I will do my best to update this story at least once a week; or maybe four or five times a month. I do have some other fanfiction projects, but I will keep them and start uploading as we near the end of this story, so that I can continue with the weekly updates. Again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this far; you guys are awesome!

* * *

"The rules are simple!" Master Chao explained. "The one to fall off loses; you may only stand on one foot. The team with the most victories out of three wins… Begin!"

The gong rang and Monkey took a quick breath of excitement as his first match began. The rules of the tournament were that each Master would have to pick a respective Master, whom he believed had the skill to win the match. And for the balance match, Master Shifu had picked none other than Monkey.

And who was Monkey up against? He was literally up against Jinshu. Literally because they were standing high on a pole this very moment – a tall and somewhat thin pole.

Watching from the sidelines, Junjie smiled. He was certain that his grandson had what was needed to win – he had trained him as his prime student after all. At least until he had had to leave him by that Kung Fu Academy. But from what Junjie had seen, they had trained him well.

Jinshu and monkey both lifted their right legs, so that the legs they preferred for fighting were free to use.

Monkey was the one to make the first move, striking a punch towards Jinshu. The silver fox blocked it with his left fist, pushing it aside, trying to make Monkey lose his balance. But the primate did not fall of the pole with the help of his hand-like feet.

Soon Monkey landed several strikes against Jinshu; both with his hands, but also his feet.

Finally Jinshu also smashed a punch against Monkey's chest, almost causing him to fall off. A faint, white light of chi energy emitted from the silver fox's hand.

Monkey was greatly surprised by the force of the attack as the crowd around them cheered.

Junjie on the other hand was only pleased. It seemed that Jinshu could be the ultimate weapon, which would grant his team the victory… although there was one other potential candidate out of the Six.

Returning his attention to the battle, Junjie smiled as he saw his grandson smash punch after punch against Monkey.

Shifu on the other hand wasn't too fond of how it looked. Maybe he had chosen the wrong student for the task… Crane was the one who specified in balance after all.

Po mentally agreed, even though he was still cheering for his friend. After all, Monkey's hand-like feet seemed to prove useful for holding onto the pole.

Monkey blocked yet another punch, countering with one towards Jinshu. It successfully hit the silver fox, almost causing him to fall off the pole.

"Yeah, that's how you do it!" Po cheered for his friend as the fight continued.

"Don't think so, panda!" Eagle said with a cocky snicker. She had her arms crossed and a very confident look in her eyes – just like the rest of her team, actually.

And just as she said that, Monkey punched towards Jinshu again, but the silver fox blocked it with his right shin, surprising everyone; this far the two had only used their fists fir fighting – using one's feet was somewhat more risky as that required more balance.

Jinshu sent a sneaky grin to Monkey, then swept his fist away with his right leg, then kicked him repeatedly in the side of his torso.

From the looks of it, Po could tell that Jinshu kicked with an incredible force.

Kick after kick smashed against Monkey for about ten seconds… but it was about two kicks per second!

Shifu and Junjie were equally astonished – Shifu had never had a student who could perform such a display of strength, accuracy and speed at the same time… and neither had Junjie!

"What the…?" Po's jaw almost dropped.

"I've never seen such technique, Master," Tigress said and turned to Shifu.

"Don't look at me – I haven't either!" Shifu told his student. He then turned towards Junjie. "Where has he learned that?"

"Who knows?" Junjie asked with a shrug and a satisfied chuckle. "My boy is full of surprises, isn't he?"

"Monkey!" Po cried, making Shifu return his attention towards the arena again. Just as Shifu looked back again, Monkey hit the ground hard. For a moment he didn't move. Some of the otters that worked at the palace hurried over to help Monkey to his feet as Master Chao got up.

"The first round goes to Jinshu of the Selected Six!" he announced, which got a wide mix of opinions from the crowd – but the majority was cheering for Jinshu. Just as this happened, a torch by one of the arena's ends was lit, symbolizing that one match had been won by the Selected Six.

With a faint smile after seeing his grandfather's satisfied smile, Jinshu made a graceful jump off of the pole, landing elegantly beside Monkey.

With a smile of superiority Jinshu made his way past Monkey, whom he sent a short smile of victory.

"Monkey! Are you okay?" Viper asked her friend once the primate was back on the bench with the others.

"Yes, of course," Monkey said, though he hadn't been able to walk properly over to the bench, while Jinshu had seemingly strutting over to the bench. "I just need a break."

"Warriors, round two is about to begin! Choose your participants!" Master Chao announced.

Po and his friends all fell silent and looked to Shifu. The red panda seemed to be in deep thoughts for a moment, trying to decide who would fight. Shifu knew that he couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice.

"I won't make the same mistake," Shifu muttered to himself. He snapped his fingers and said, "Crane, you're up."

"Yes, Master Shifu," the bird replied and flew towards the pole in the middle of the arena. As he did, the crowd started cheering for him, filling him with refreshed hope for a chance of victory.

Back on the bench, Junjie was still trying to make up his mind. He knew that he wouldn't be allowed to make Jinshu fight twice, even despite how much he wanted to. He then turned to a very different member – third in command. "Lynx, you will take care of this round."

"Of course, Master," the small feline said in an upbeat tone of voice and jumped off the bench and ran towards the pole, which he was supposed to stand on. And once he got to it, he realized just how tall it was.

Scratching his head, the lynx tried to figure out how to climb it. He quickly decided to extend his claws and used them to elegantly climb up – more or less.

"Alright, that was easy," Lynx said, once he had gotten to the top.

"Contestants ready?" Master Chao asked. "Begin!"

As soon as the gong rang, the two warriors lifted their right legs, balancing on the left.

"Come on, Crane; you can do it!" Mantis cheered, which was surprisingly loud in contrast to his body size. And soon the rest of his teammates joined in as well.

Crane smiled to himself as he heard his friends cheering for him. He did notice the somewhat odd fact that none of Lynx's teammates were cheering for him though. But Crane had figured that he and his friends had a much closer relationship than the Selected Six had – that probably explained the lack of team spirit.

Lynx was the first to attack, using a very direct punching technique. Crane fluidly blocked it with both of his wings. Still holding Lynx's hand in a tight grip between his wings, Crane kicked him in the chest with his free foot.

Lynx almost fell off of the pole because of this unexpected technique. But the little feline used his left foot to spin around himself in a perfect circle, resulting in him almost hitting Crane in the head.

Crane just barely managed to block with his one wing and even struggled, trying to regain his balance afterwards. Lynx took advantage of this and jumped off the pole, kicking towards Crane midair.

But Crane amazingly managed to dodge; still standing on the pole, he brought his body into a horizontal angle, amazingly still balancing. Lynx wasn't as lucky; the feline had used too much force and literally flew over Crane.

"And the second round goes to Crane of the Furious Five!" Just as Master Chao announced this, Crane managed to catch Lynx with his right foot, still managing to keep himself in the horizontal position.

"Hey, let go," Lynx growled.

"But…"

"I'm a lynx, I'll be fine," Lynx said annoyed.

"Cats like me, we always land on our…" Crane didn't reply, but simply obeyed. Coincidentally Lynx landed flat on his stomach instead of on his feet. "… feet…"

"Pathetic," Jinshu said and crossed his arms as the torch in the opposite end of the arena was lit, representing Po and the Furious Five's victory.

Po was surprised to hear this; he would never say such a thing about his own teammate! Po was unable to understand how they could call themselves a team when they acted so coldly towards each other.

"And now we will move on to the final round!" Master Chao announced, causing the crowd to cheer very loud. "This far it is a tie between the Furious Five and the Selected Six – we will find our winners in this following round!"

"Uh! Shifu, let me go!" Po suddenly said. He had been observing the matches and it actually looked kind of fun.

"You? Panda, I'm afraid that you don't have the… capacities to do this." Shifu's face changed into a very dull one, just about the same he had had back when he talked to Po for the first time ever.

"Aww, come on, Master Shifu! Please, I promise I will win!" Po pleaded. With a very heavy sigh, Shifu finally gave in. "Yes! Don't worry, Master, I won't disappoint you!"

"Is it me, or is Shifu getting soft?" Monkey whispered to Viper, but Shifu seemingly heard this, responding by clearing his throat in a stern manner. Monkey quickly stopped what he was about to say and suddenly got a whole lot more interested in the match.

"Phew, that was easy!" It was after quite a bit of trouble that Po finally got onto the pole. He did a few quick punches into the air to get warm. Once the crowd saw that the Dragon Warrior himself would finally take part, they went completely crazy, cheering incredibly loud.

Po smiled and waved around, but his smile faded a little when he saw who he was up against: Gorilla.

The huge primate made his way to the top of the pole by climbing, using both his hands and hand-like feet. Soon Gorilla stood on his pole and Po was surprised as how quick the large primate seemed to gain balance.

"Contestants ready?" Master Chao asked. "Begin!"

As soon as the gong rang, Po and Gorilla lifted their right legs. Gorilla seemed to have an easier time balancing than Po had, and the panda was already afraid that he had made a mistake by entering.

Gorilla punched towards Po, but Po blocked using his own hand, but soon the primate used his left fist as well to send a devastating punch towards Po.

This punch hit Po in the chest. The sheer force of the impact alone surprised Po greatly and Gorilla nearly managed to get Po to fall off.

"Whew, that was close," Po said once he had regained his balance and went to attack Gorilla with a punching attack.

"Not close enough unfortunately," Gorilla said. But if I have calculated everything right, I should still be able to get you to fall."

"You calculate stuff like that?" Po asked confused blocking another punch.

"I calculate…" Gorilla then blocked a kick from Po. "… everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything," Gorilla replied. "Now shut up and let me annihilate you!"

Gorilla pushed Po's foot away, then hit his chest with a powerful punch, almost causing him to fall off. This time, Gorilla took a quick look at the way that Po was trying to regain balance. He figured that this was the chance.

Gorilla then jumped towards Po with his hand-like feet first, formed into two fists.

Luckily, due to his trying to balance, Po managed to (Unintentionally) avoid getting hit by Gorilla's attack. The entire crowd held their breath as they watched Gorilla fly past Po.

Suddenly it was as if everything went in slow motion; Gorilla flew past Po, but somehow managed to do some sideways flips in the air, also hitting Po's shoulder in the process.

Now it caused Po to lose his balance for real. Now he also fell towards the ground beneath.

"Interesting," Junjie chuckled to himself, though not many shared his opinion.

"Master, technically we just lost," Cobra informed his Master. "Gorilla was the first to lose his…"

"Doesn't play a role," Stag interrupted his teammate. "It comes down to who hits the ground first."

"Duh, does not!" Cobra hissed and soon he and Stag had a somewhat noisy argument.

Meanwhile, Po's friends were all watching.

"Come on!" Mantis said as he watched his friend fall. "All that fat's got to help him!"

"Mantis, fat only floats, it does not levitate," Viper said.

"Still, maybe it could help him," Mantis muttered.

Finally one of them hit the ground – Gorilla; Po followed short after. They both landed on their backs and maybe it was just her imagination, but Tigress was sure that she could feel it in the ground.

"And the winner is the Po, the Dragon Warrior!" Master Chao announced, causing the crowd to cheer louder than they had earlier that day.

Shifu smiled with satisfaction, then looked over at Junjie, who looked rather devastated. Sending his rival a little smile, Shifu said, "Quite interesting in fact, Junjie."

Po made his way over to his friends as the second torch in Po and his friends' end of the arena was lit.

"Po, you did it!" Crane said excitedly.

"Good job, my friend," Monkey said and patted Po on the shoulder, seemingly still a little numb from the battle he had lost to Jinshu.

"Congratulations, Panda," Shifu told his student. "I knew you could do it… although I did have my doubts."

"Hehe, thanks, Shifu!" Po said as the crowd kept cheering. Some fireworks was also being fired into the air, but due to the remaining bit of sunlight, it was a little hard to see. Po was very surprised that the tournament was already over though.

"We congratulate the winners of the first day of the tournament – the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five!" Master Zihao cheered out loud, sharing the joy with the crowd. "What an outstanding final match!"

With a smile, Ai Long jumped off of the tribune and down into the arena, much surprising, given her age. She walked over to Po and his friends. "You did so well, everyone! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Ai Long," Shifu replied. "I am also very proud of my students."

"Of course, who would not be?" she asked. "Now, go prepare yourselves; there will be a party tonight!"


	7. Family Reunions

"I certainly hope you understand just how disappointed I am." Junjie crossed his arms behind his back and started walking back and forth in front of the Selected Six. "Some of you…" He looked at Lynx and Gorilla. "… More than others."

Gorilla was the one who was the most embarrassed here; being the perfectionist he was he had hoped that he had calculated correctly in a way that would have ensured him victory.

"Tomorrow," Junjie started. "I expect better results. We have not come all this way to lose… And we certainly didn't come to passively watch as Shifu's students win… did we?"

"No, Master," the Selected Six replied in unison.

"Good… that's exactly what I thought." Junjie turned to his grandson next. "Jinshu. I am satisfied with your result on the other hand. I did not know you had learned such moves."

Jinshu bowed for his Master. "Thank you, gr-… Master."

"And the rest of you – I expect no more failure from now on," Junjie said and turned to the others. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, master," they all replied in unison.

* * *

"Po, Po! My boy; I'm so proud of you!" Mr. Ping had his small wings around Po's big stomach. Po had been in his room at the palace, but suddenly his father had barged in.

"Haha, thanks, dad!" Po said, hugging his father back. "I thought you weren't going to show up!"

"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Ping asked. "Of course I came! Just like most of the village!"

"Really?"

"Yes, of course! You're the pride of the Valley of Peace!" Mr. Ping said. "It was just supposed to be a surprise!"

"And I have to say that it worked," Po replied happily. "I was so depressed when I left home!"

"I'm sorry, son," Mr. Ping said, a little embarrassed.

"Nah, it's okay, dad," Po told the old goose. "At least now it is!"

Suddenly it knocked on the door. Po turned his attention to the door. "Come in!"

When the door was opened, the Furious Five entered. They seemed very surprised to see Mr. Ping, considering that Po had told them that his father wouldn't be there. But none the less, it was also a pleasant surprise to them.

"Hello, Mr. Ping," Tigress greeted the old goose with a small smile.

"Hey, we didn't know you were going to be here!" Monkey said. Just like the others, Monkey wore his usual attire, which they did whenever they weren't at the tournament or attending dinners.

"Me neither," Po laughed. "So what's up, guys?"

"Well, we were going to check out the city," Mantis said. Mantis then showed Po a scroll, letting it roll out, so that it hit the floor.

"What's that?" Mr. Ping asked.

"A tourist's guide… They have… a tourist guide for this city!" Mantis said excitedly, though no one else seemed to share his excitement. Soon he came to realize this. "Oh, you guys are all so boring! You will never understand the greatness of my…"

"Either way," Crane started. "Are you coming along, Po, or…?"

Po quickly looked at his dad. Mr. Ping just smiled. "It's alright, son, I'll just see you later. But remember…"

"I know," Po said with a smile. Then he finished his father's sentence, "Don't trust strange noodles."

"Good boy," Mr. Ping said joyfully. "Now go have fun!"

* * *

"Hey, Mantis," Po started as he and his friends exited the palace. "Can I see that tourist's guide?"

"No, none of you guys appreciate it!" Mantis growled, keeping it to himself. "Hey, did you guys know that there are fifty different restaurants in this city?"

"Well, we would have if you'd let us see it," Crane pointed out.

"Alright fine! Maybe then you'll appreciate it!" Mantis growled, handing the tourist's guide to Po. Po looked at the top of the scroll. Apparently it was entitled 'A gentleman's guide to Beijing'.

Well, it did seem pretty legit to Po – obviously it was published by someone who lived in the city itself. Reading through it, it also seemed that the author of the scroll knew just about anything about the city – it was so detailed.

"I know!" Po said. "Why don't we go eat at some fancy restaurant?"

"Po, our amount of money is limited," Tigress pointed out. True, they didn't have very much money to use. In fact, this spoken of restaurant would probably cost them all they money.

"Eh… then we could find a relatively cheap one?" Po suggested.

"But there will be a party tonight," Crane said. "Do you really want to eat yourself stuffed before that?"

Po thought about it for a moment. He had completely forgotten about the party! But who knew if it would be as big as the feast the night before? Maybe it wouldn't even be fixated on a feast – maybe it was just to celebrate?

"… Maybe we could just go take a look at the city then?" Po suggested. The others weren't very fond of this idea, due to the fact that they had to be at the party once the sun had set in the sky.

"Fine, but make it quick," Tigress said with a sigh.

"Yes!"

"But we'll have to be back at sunset, got it?" Tigress asked sternly.

"Of course, of course! Now let's go!" Soon Po and his friends were walking through the streets. A lot of people quickly recognized the six and most of them came over to greet and congratulate them. One of them, a young rabbit, even described in detail how much he looked up to them.

"Haha, do you train Kung Fu yourself, kid?" Monkey asked.

"Yeah! And one day I will become just as good as you guys!" he said excitedly. Po chuckled and patted the kid on his head.

"That's great – just keep training, little friend," Po said with a smile. "Maybe you can come to Jade Palace and train someday!"

Po and his friends continued down the street after encouraging the young rabbit to follow his dream. It really felt great for Po to do it and mostly because he had never had that encouragement himself – he saw a lot of himself in that kid.

Soon the six came to a marketplace. It was very different from the one in Gongmen City; there were lots of big stands with a lot of exotic items that Po and his friends had never seen before.

Walking past the many stands, Po and Crane ended up by a Japanese stand.

"What is this stuff?" Po wondered, looking at the small green, cake-like spheres that were presented.

"Wasabi," the wolf who owned the stand replied. He had a foreign accent and Po probably wouldn't be able to have a conversation with him.

"Can we taste it?" Po asked. The wolf nodded, understanding so much.

"Wait, Po," Crane said. "I've heard about this; they say it's very…"

"Ah~! Spicy!" Po said, still having a few of the wasabi-things in his mouth.

"Po, just swallow it!" Crane kept telling the panda as he started freaking out. Eventually Monkey had to come over and place a hand on Po's chin, forcing the panda to chew the green objects. Eventually Monkey also had to force Po to swallow it.

"Ugh, I certainly don't like that wasabi-stuff," Po groaned, causing the wolf who owned the stand to chuckle at the panda's reaction. Po grimaced as he still had the taste of wasabi in his mouth. "Can we go get something to drink?"

Po and his friends eventually found some kind of bar. It seemed somewhat crowded with lots of loud people in there – the majority was men, who immediately turned their attention towards Tigress and Viper.

But the two women took on a very cold persona in order to repel the men. As the first man approached Tigress, she simply interrupted him with a "No." at everything he said or tried to say, eventually just holding up her paw, telling him to talk to the paw.

Po and the others had never seen or heard Tigress like that, but it was still somewhat impressive. Po and the others made their way to the bar where Po quickly ordered some water.

"Po, what did you eat, man?" Mantis asked and jumped onto the counter. Before Po could answer, since he was busy drinking water, Mantis heard another voice.

"Well, nothing… just yet." Mantis turned his head and almost jumped out of his skin.

"Wha! Don't touch me, woman!" Mantis said, getting into a defensive stance.

The female Mantis simply giggled at him. "Suit yourself, honey."

After winking at him, she jumped off the counter, allowing Mantis to calm his nerves. "Whew, that was close!"

"What are you talking about?" Viper asked. "She just wanted to talk to…"

"Didn't you see the way, she looked at me?!"

Viper was somewhat startled by his question, but simply replied, "Yes, but…"

As Mantis went on with explaining everything (About Mantises and love) Po suddenly noticed someone familiar sitting by a table in the most distant corner of the bar.

"Guys, look," Po said, pointing towards Jinshu. "What are they doing here?"

As I he had heard him, which would have been impossible, Jinshu looked up and got eye contact with Po. The silver fox stared for a moment, then eventually signaled for Po to come over.

Po looked over at Tigress, unsure of what to do. She shook her head and simply said that they had to get going. But Po was curious; he wanted to know what Jinshu wanted.

As the panda made his way towards the competitive group, Jinshu quickly snapped his fingers, getting the attention of his peers. Eagle, Lynx, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra quickly turned their attention towards the approaching Dragon Warrior.

"Dragon Warrior," Jinshu says with a fake tone of surprise, sounding somewhat similar to his grandfather. "What brings you and your friends here?"

"Well, just… came by and, well, I was thirsty," Po replied. "What about you?"

"We had to find somewhere to be, right?" Jinshu asked with a somewhat sly smile. "Besides, we like this city."

"You've been here before?" Tigress asked as she and the others joined Po.

"No, actually we haven't," Eagle replied before Jinshu could. "We just happen to fit in so well."

"It seems," Mantis said in a somewhat teasing, yet insulting tone of voice.

"But don't you have a party to go to?" Jinshu asked and took a sip of his drink… whatever it was.

"Yeah, we do, but… aren't you going as well?" Po asked, somewhat confused. "I mean, you're obligated to come, right?"

"Yes, we are obligated to… but do you really think that we would attend a party held for you?"

"For us?" Po asked. He didn't know that. Had the Onyx Council really planned to hold this party, just to celebrate Po and the Furious Five's victory earlier that day? "But… No hard feelings, right?"

None of the six answered. Soon the Selected Six focused back on their drinks (Stag focused back on his dumplings as well). Po and his friends stood there for a moment, not saying anything.

"Eh… I guess we should get going," Po said, somewhat awkwardly. "Uhm… we'll just see you at the party tonight… right?"

No response.


	8. Interacting

(The Author's Note will be at the end - for a reason. ;) )

* * *

"Dragon Warrior! Please, allow us to congratulate you and your comrades with the superb victory today!" Master Ox and Master Croc both bowed for the six, spreading a smile on Po's cheeks.

Seeing the two remaining members of the Kung Fu Council of Gongmen City at the party had been quite the surprise.

"Thank you both very much," Po said proudly. "It's great that you could show up!"

"How could we miss out on it?" Ox asked with a smile. "After what you all did for Gongmen City, how could we not repay the favor by wishing you all the best of luck?"

Po and his friends thanked the duo again, then went onto greet some of the other Masters that had showed up at the party as Shifu started conversing with the two.

Po was surprised and amused to find Masters he had never met, but heard so much about. Po almost went fanboy on all of them, but he decided to try his best and keep his cool – he could always ask for their autographs once the tournament was over.

Not only them, but also all the wealthy families of Beijing and other cities were at the party, most of them wearing clothes that almost appeared too formal to be real clothes – their outfit themselves looked like art!

Tigress was also rather thrilled by meeting all these great Masters, whom she had read and heard about. But as Po eventually ended up having lots of long conversations with most of them, she walked over to a window and took a look outside as well as some fresh air.

Needless to say, Beijing was beautiful by night – all of the city lights looked like stars in the sky against the dark, almost black background. The moonlight cast a dim light over the city, casting it entirely in a bluish shade.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Tigress turned her head and saw Jinshu standing by the wall. The silver fox wore some formal robes, but not ones she had seen before. These consisted of a white Kung Fu Jacket with blue trims and black silk pants.

"I suppose…" Tigress replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Just like you," Jinshu said, surprising Tigress greatly. Tigress looked into his eyes for a moment. She then looked out the window again.

* * *

"So you decided to show up after all?" Shifu asked Junjie. The two Grandmasters were standing a little away from the life of the party – Po. The two had randomly stumbled upon one another and it had surprised Shifu – mainly because of what he had heard his students say – about the Six's behavior in that bar where the two teams had met.

"Of course – just what do you think of me?" Junjie asked in an insulted growl.

"Not quite honorable," Shifu said, stating his opinion.

"Well… at least I…"

"There is no reason what so ever to be fighting, you two." The two Grandmasters turned their heads and saw Master Chao. The two felt equally embarrassed – due to master Chao talking to them like children.

"Sorry, Master Chao," Junjie said, bowing quickly. "There are just some… negative vibrations in this atmosphere, I suppose."

Master Chao didn't seem utterly thrilled with Junjie's comment, but eventually chose to ignore it. "You two are acting like children. Aren't you the least bit ashamed of yourselves?"

"I am sorry, Master," Shifu said and bowed. "Please forgive me."

"Me as well," Junjie said, bowing as well.

"Very well – your apologies are accepted," Master Chao said, though still looking somewhat unimpressed. "But please behave you two. I know you've had your problems, but please try and see through it."

"Of course," the two said in unison and bowed once again, still feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Shifu and Junjie then decided to leave each other alone as it would only cause the two to quarrel. Shifu instead watched as his students also interacted with Junjie's students; for example Crane, who was playing a chess game against Gorilla.

Surprisingly, it seemed that the primate seemed to give Shifu's student a hard time. This somewhat shocked him, given that Crane was as good, if not better, than Shifu was.

Moving on, Shifu found Lynx performing to get some attention, throwing various things into the air and balancing it by catching them on top of one another. The small feline had managed to balance a chair, a small table and a vase with one hand.

The people around him, mainly some of the young ladies seemed very amused, but Shifu didn't let himself be impressed by this childish behavior.

Moving on, Shifu also found Mantis arguing with Cobra and Stag. Mantis was seemingly having a hard time structuring his opinions against the two. Shifu had no idea about what they were talking about, but obviously not anything he would understand.

"You know me and you – we should head out." The last thing Shifu had expected was to find that Monkey had been smitten with some young women. Furthermore, Shifu found the primate flirting with some of them!

"Oh, you heard that?!" one of the young women, a feline of some sort squealed. "He just asked me out!"

"You? Ha, he totally asked _me_ out!" a white swan said.

It was still somewhat odd for Shifu to see something like this, given his students had never really had the chance of getting smitten with anyone. But nonetheless, he sent Monkey a somewhat stern look, warning him that he should just be 'careful' about what he would get himself involved in.

"Ah, don't worry, ladies," Eagle said in a cocky tone of voice as she entered the scene. "He isn't worth it. He won't even last a minute in the arena – but I guess you'll see tomorrow!"

"How dare you say that?" the swan asked. "He is the great Master Monkey!"

"So? I'm Master Eagle the Second," Eagle said cockily. "It's only natural that I'm the greater one here."

Shifu hurried away, leaving Monkey with that… situation to take care of, so to speak.

One thing that didn't surprise him was to find Viper surrounded by children. She was seemingly telling them all stories about her and her five friends. This put a smile on Shifu's face – simply seeing how entertained it kept the children.

As Shifu walked closer, Viper sent him a little smile, but kept telling whatever she was telling the children. "Oh look, kids, it's Master Shifu!"

The children's attention quickly got turned towards the old master, who just smiled warmly at them.

One of them, seemingly the youngest one, a cat, for some reason, had a pair of small bowls and held them up to his head. This way they looked like round ears and he joyously squealed, "She-pu!"

Master Shifu chuckled at the little child's 'Shifu-impersonation'. "Haha, so you told them about that?"

"Yes," Viper replied, happy that her master also found it somewhat funny. "The kids wanted to hear about the Dragon Warrior, so I told them about the first days that Po was with us."

"Is that so," Shifu said in a low tone of voice, still smiling.

"Yeah!" one of the older children said. He was a rabbit and most likely around six or seven years old. "I want to be just like the Dragon Warrior!"

"Is that so?" Shifu chuckled. "I guess you might as well start your… training." Shifu gently patted the young rabbit's tummy, causing the group to laugh.

Eventually Shifu noticed something; Tigress stood by a window, all alone. It wasn't much of a surprise, but suddenly he saw Jinshu approach her. Raising an eyebrow, Shifu left the children with Viper and walked a little closer.

* * *

"Sweet thing of you to say," Tigress said, somewhat coldly. "But it won't get you anywhere."

"A shame," Jinshu said in a somewhat sleek voice. Tigress didn't quite trust him – he was a member of the competitive team, besides, he hadn't acted quite happy earlier in that bar.

"Yes, a shame." Tigress looked back out at the city.

"Is something wrong, Tigress?" Jinshu asked, surprising Tigress a bit – the fact that he had bothered to remember her name.

"No… Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I just figured," Jinshu asked and looked out the window as well. "I mean, that look in your eyes and all… I just assumed."

Tigress found herself confused. She turned to the silver fox. "What are you talking about?"

"There is no reason to put on your angry voice, beautiful," Jinshu teased her with a sleek smile. "But what I was talking about is the look in your eyes."

"Yes, I understood that," Tigress said, a little annoyed, though ignoring the fact that he had just called her 'beautiful'. "But what about it?"

"You just seem longingly," Jinshu said, surprising Tigress again. How had he known? "What is it that you miss?"

"Nothing you would ever understand," Tigress said, avoiding his gaze by looking out the window again.

"Is that so…" Jinshu chuckled. "What about we play guess the tigress' thoughts?"

Tigress didn't reply, which Jinshu took as an okay. "Does it have anything to do with your personal life?"

Tigress simply nodded, not intending on even telling him what it was. It was still strange that he had somehow managed to figure her out. Even her friends that she had been with for years hadn't learned to quite figure her out – at least not as fast as Jinshu had. Maybe it was some kind of special talent that the silver fox possessed.

"Alright, let's see… does it have anything to do with your friends – the other five?" Jinshu asked then, looked at Tigress' face as to see if it brought up any special feelings in her.

"No," Tigress replied with a straight face.

Jinshu thought about it for a moment. It seemed that he would have to try guessing with a different perspective. That perspective turned out to be one he could relate to; "Does it have something to do with your Master?"

There was no response and Jinshu couldn't read anything in her face. "So I guess that's it, huh?"

"Why do you even care?" Tigress hissed and walked over to the window again. "It's nothing you understand… Or any of your business for that matter."

"False, true," Jinshu said, commenting on her two statements. "In fact, I do know how it feels. Yes, I know what it's about. You want attention, am I right?"

"…" Tigress looked out the window again, not responding. "It's just that this tournament is a chance to finally make him proud of me."

"Let me guess, he's always tried to hold up that cold, professional attitude, right?" Jinshu asked. Without waiting for an answer, Jinshu continued, "I know how it is with those Grandmasters – they don't display any pride for their students and what they do unless it is truly remarkable."

"How'd you know?" Tigress asked. "I don't see Junjie act like that towards you of all people."

"Yes, but sometimes there is more than what meets the eye, Tigress." Jinshu carefully took a step closer. "You want to know why I'm here at this tournament?"

"Not really, but I have the feeling that you're going to tell me," Tigress replied, looking over at Jinshu, but then looked back out at the city, accepting his presence. "But I suppose it isn't just to win, anyway…"

"Correct," Jinshu said, now standing right beside her. He wasn't as tall as her, only reaching her shoulders, not including his ears. "The reason is that my grandpa wants to win this tournament… he wants to prove something to himself, I think…"

"Your grandpa?" Tigress asked confused.

"Yes… Junjie," Jinshu explained.

"But what about your parents?"

"My parents died when I was a baby; my mother died while giving birth to me and my father took his own life in grief." Jinshu stopped for a moment. As cold as he usually seemed, this subject actually seemed to touch him deeply.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tigress said, surprised to find that she actually meant it. But none the less, she could relate to it.

"I grew up with my uncle," Jinshu explained. "He was a tailor and he gave me these clothes when Junjie started training me."

"How old were you?" Tigress asked. "When you started training, that is."

"I was thirteen when Junjie came for me," Jinshu said, almost making it sound like he had been abducted. "Since that day it was just training and training… up until this day."

"I know how it is," Tigress said. "I've also always trained – nothing more, nothing less."

"Yes, but at least you always had Shifu," Jinshu said.

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked, finding herself more drawn towards Jinshu's life story.

"One day, back when I was fifteen, Junjie left me at a Kung Fu academy," Jinshu explained. "Just left me there. And you know what? He just comes back for me six years later as if it had just been a few days!"

Jinshu stopped himself, feeling frustrated. He felt himself getting angry, but he didn't know why. "And here we are – eight years after that…"

Tigress was shocked – to say the least. She had always felt ignored by Shifu, but she had never felt used – which Jinshu seemed to have. To be honest, Tigress understood why; Junjie hadn't quite treated him like a grandfather would treat his grandson.

"Sorry I had an outburst like that," Jinshu excused himself. "I should probably go…"

"Jinshu…" Tigress was unsure of what to say. Why had the silver fox just blurted out his entire life story? Was he really honest or was he trying to win her over?

"Tigress, I think it's best if we just act like this conversation never happened; we're on different sides after all," Jinshu told Tigress and was about to leave. Tigress just stood there, not saying a single word. In a sense he had been right about his last statement – Shifu or any of Tigress' other teammates probably wouldn't like it, if they found her talking to Jinshu.

As Jinshu left, he gently let his hand caress her shoulder for a short moment before disappearing into the crowd. Tigress barely reacted, though it had sent a chill down her spine.

But the silver fox sure had left her with a lot to think about. Now she finally understood why he seemed so cold – at least somewhat understood. But why had he chosen to talk to Tigress about it… of all people in the world? Had it been part of his flirting? Had it all just been an act to try and win her over?

Either way, Tigress couldn't allow herself to buy into any of it… but she could always think it through without the least bit of consideration to join the Selected Six's ranks.

No, Jinshu had seemed too out of character for it to ever be real; Tigress knew that!

"Tigress?" Tigress jumped slightly by the sound of Shifu's voice.

"Master," she replied, hoping that he hadn't heard any of the conversation she had just had with Jinshu.

"What did he want?" Shifu wanted to know, asking in a somewhat suspicious tone of voice.

"Nothing, he just tried to flirt with me," Tigress said, trying her best to make it sound like she thought that Jinshu was pathetic. Obviously it worked, since it seemed to calm Shifu a little.

"Is that so," Shifu asked. "I'm glad it didn't work – you're out of his league."

"I am?" Tigress asked, somewhat surprised, but quickly replaced it with, "Of course, Master."

Shifu walked back towards where Po was, now telling stories instead of Viper. Except now, not only the children at the party, but also the adults were listening as well.

It actually suited Po to be telling stories like that – being surrounded by children made him look kind of mature in Tigress opinion as she followed her Master towards the story-telling panda.

And Tigress knew for a fact that the panda would probably end up telling stories the rest of the night until his voice disappeared. Mr.  
Ping was there as well, looking proud as ever – he also seemed to have some fun with the party.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I hope you liked this chapter! Kind of like Dining Danger - a little pointless, though we're starting to get somewhere with the plot - and it only took eight chapters - well done, me... and there is more to come in the next chapter, so stay tuned! ;) I hope you enjoyed! Oh, and TigressxJinshu? Most likely **_NOT _**going to happen. But if I do hcnage my mind, which will most likely happen, please don't be surprised. ;)


	9. Second Day of Staffs and Swords

**A/N:** Hi guys, here I finally am with a new update! This is a pretty long chapter, and please, I'd like to know; these next chapters will be pretty long - at least the ones regarding the tournament... would you like me to cut it in half, or would you prefer it to be one long chapter? Please let me know. :)  
So anyways, there are some more story elements in this story with more revelations in the next, so stay tuned. ;) I hope you enjoy! BTW, I'd be happy if you could also check out my new story, Leave All Behind. :)

* * *

"Tigress, is something wrong?" Po asked.

"No I'm fine." Tigress simply sent him a faint smile and shook her head. Tigress didn't like the fact that she had to lie to her friend, but at the same time, she knew it was for the better as she did not want them to worry about her – after all, the second round of the tournament was about to begin.

"Po, really, I'm fine," Tigress said, seeing the panda's somewhat worried face. "You should just focus on memorizing those rules."

"Oh, right," Po agreed. Crane had written a list with the tournament rules for Po – at least the traditional ones. Po looked back down at the list once again.

* * *

**Warnings:  
**  
Kneeing and elbowing

Attacking to the head, neck, throat, ears or groin

Attacking or locking the joints

Attacking or pushing with head

Pulling hair or clothes

Using any technique determined to cause injury

Receiving coaching during the round

Disengaging or clinching to avoid contact or competition

**Disqualifications:**

Excessive and dangerous use of force

Three warnings

Attacking the opponent's eyes

Unsportsmanlike behavior

* * *

"Wait, so this means Master Shifu can't help us, like at all?" Po asked surprised. The group made their way across the palace's courtyard and headed for the arena.

"Yes, of course," Crane replied. "We're Masters after all – we're supposed to be able to take care of ourselves."

"True… but what if it was really, really necessary?" Po asked.

"Then it's just 'too bad, so sad' – simply put," Mantis pointed out. "Besides, wouldn't you feel a little dependent to need Shifu's help during a fight?"

"Okay, now that you mention it, yes," Po admitted.

The six warriors eventually came to the arena and entered through their gate. They were once again greeted by a cheering crowd, confetti and music. After waving a little at the crowd, the six made their way over to the bench on which Shifu waited for them.

"Master Shifu, what do we do?" Po immediately blurted out, somewhat surprising Shifu. Po briefly looked over his Master and saw Junjie sit with a mischievous smile on his face. He had probably trained his students to use weapons. Just great.

"What are you talking about, panda?" Master Shifu asked.

"None of us have had any expanded weapon training," Po said. "Monkey knows how to use a Bo Staff, but we're still done for!"

"Hey!" Monkey said, not utterly satisfied with Po's comment.

"No offense, man, but seriously; what do we do?"

Shifu thought for a moment. He could clearly feel that Junjie was watching with a joyous and sly grin on his face – even though smiles made no sound, Shifu could almost hear it.

"Master, what do we do?" Tigress asked, though a lot calmer than Po.

"You just do the best you can do," Master Shifu said determined. "I have faith that you can win this nonetheless."

"Alright," Tigress said determined. "But who will go first?"

"Depends on the discipline," Master Shifu replied and waited for the round to begin.

"Honored citizens!" Master Chao started, already causing the crowd to start cheering. "The second day of the tournament is about to begin!"

"Today will be the day of weapon skill," Master Zihao explained once the crowd was done cheering again. "First discipline is usage of the Bo Staff!"

The crowd started cheering and Po and his friends all looked over at Monkey.

"No, not for the first round," Shifu said, thinking strategic this time – if Monkey got hurt in some way, which was unlikely, the group wouldn't have anyone to fight – at least not someone who was specialized in using the Bo Staff.

"Mantis, you're up first," Shifu said, surprising everyone.

"Me?" Mantis asked surprised.

"Him?" all the others asked.

"Hey!" Mantis said, having changed his opinion about the idea. "I can handle this!"

"Can you even lift the Staff?" Monkey asked teasingly, getting a cold glare from Mantis.

As Mantis growled a sassy answer back at Monkey, Shifu looked over to see who Junjie had requested to battle. But it seemed that the fox hadn't chosen anyone just yet.

"Quite interesting," Junjie said once he saw Mantis walk over to pick up a Bo Staff. "An alternate pick, hmm, Shifu? Should I have Gorilla demolish him? Or should I…? Why not… Stag, you're up!"

"Right on it," Stag said and spread his cover wings and his wings beneath and flew towards the arena, grabbing a Bo Staff along the way.

"Are they really serious about this?" Master Zihao whispered to Master Chao. "How are we going to judge a battle if we can't even see it?"

"Excellent question," Master Chao said, completely forgetting to answer on purpose. "Alright, citizens! Masters! Let the first round begin!"

The sound of the gong was heard and Mantis gripped the Staff tightly with his claws. Stag on the other hand was holding it by his hands, though supporting it with his antlers.

"So you finally want to face me in battle?" Stag asked somewhat proudly. "A bit different from just arguing, huh?"

"It'll be my pleasure to win this time!" Mantis said, self-confident and ready to fight.

Tigress sat down on the bench next to Shifu, ready to watch the first match. She discretely looked over to see Jinshu sitting on the bench, arms crossed and one leg over the other.

Though she did it discretely, Jinshu seemed to notice and looked over at her. He sent her a little smile, looking somewhat shy. Tigress immediately wondered about last night.

Maybe it hadn't even been meant to happen; maybe he just wanted to flirt with her; maybe it was because she rejected him that he told her about his past; maybe it was all an act.

And if it wasn't? What could she do about it? She didn't have any feelings towards him, did she? And even if she did, what could she do about it? Master Shifu certainly wouldn't like it and neither would her friends.

"… even see anything, Tigress." Tigress snapped out her trance-like exchange of looks with Jinshu.

"Sorry, what were you saying, Po?" she asked, somewhat embarrassed. Tigress returned her sight back towards the arena, understanding what Po meant with the little bit she had heard.

"I said, we can't even see anything," he said. "The battle…"

He was right; all they could really see were two Bo Staffs that seemed to fly back and forth, hitting each other now and then.

Mantis tightened his grip, then jumped into the air and slammed his Bo Staff downwards.

Stag positioned his own Bo Staff so that it blocked Mantis' incoming attack, then spread out his wings and flew upwards, forcing Mantis upwards as well. Mantis hadn't been prepared for this and almost lost his balance.

Mantis tightened his grip on his Bo staff again and smashed it towards Stag as he flew towards Mantis, who blocked again.

Stag then decided to hold his staff with his two antlers and jumped into the air, doing several front-flips until his staff finally smashed against Mantis'. As Mantis kept blocking it Stag suddenly jumped up with a backflip. It wasn't supposed to hit Mantis, which it didn't, but it was targeted towards his staff.

After spinning all the way around, Stag smashed staff upwards against Mantis'. This not only caused Mantis to fall onto his back due to the force of the impact, but it also caused him to drop his staff.

"This round goes to…!" Master Chao had to stop and squint for a short moment in order to see who had actually won. "… Master Stag!"

The crowd started cheering, but obviously there wasn't much of a fan base for Stag. This only caused Mantis to snicker, much to the stag beetle's annoyance. In fact, Mantis didn't take the loss that badly because of this… but it was still a little off-putting to see the torch in the Six's end of the arena be lit.

"Alright, Master Shifu, you just got my butt kicked," Mantis growled once he got back to the bench. "Pick someone who knows what they're doing!"

"Of course," Master Shifu said calmly, though a little annoyed. "Crane, you're up."

"Crane?" Monkey asked confused. "But…"

"I'm saving you for last," Shifu whispered to Monkey. It actually seemed logical to Monkey, now that he thought about it.

"Right, I see," Monkey said and sat back down. "Now go get them, Crane!"

At the same time, Junjie had also made his decision, snapping his fingers, looking over at Eagle. The avian took off with a few powerful wing-beats and soon she was soaring towards the middle of the arena, keeping a good distance to Crane.

"I guess this will be interesting," she said. "We could make this an airborne battle."

Crane didn't answer, but simply shrugged. He wasn't quite helped by her cocky and self-confident nature. Maybe this wouldn't end as pretty as he hoped. Nah, he'd be fine, besides there was nothing to worry about now; he hadn't even seen Eagle fight yet!

Crane grabbed a Bo Staff with his right talons, threw it into the air, making it flip several times, then caught it in his wings, holding it in a defensive position. This got quite the applause out of the crowd.

"Not bad," Eagle said, taking a step towards Crane. "Let's see how you fight then."

"Contestants, ready…" Master Chao stopped to make a dramatic pause. "Begin!"

Eagle switched her staff from her left to her right wing, doing some pretty impressive swings and flips.

Crane didn't let himself be intimidated by this. On the other hand he did a few similar tricks just for display. Finally the two avian Masters jumped towards each other.

Crane blocked Eagle's attempt to attack, then quickly pushed her backwards, then jumped into the air, grabbing his Bo Staff with his talons, attacking her while he was still flying.

Eagle easily blocked Crane's moves as he kept attacking. Eagle then spun around in a circle, attacking. Crane let go of his staff with his left talons and landed, grabbing onto the staff with one of his wings.

Doing like this, Crane held it vertically and easily blocked Eagle's attack. Crane then brought it into both his wings, did a few flips and attacked Eagle once again.

Eagle blocked this, spinning her staff with her wing. She then went for Crane's feet.

Crane gracefully dodged by jumping, then blocked another attack even before he landed on the ground again. Crane grabbed the one end of his staff with his wing, then spun around in a circle and smashed it towards Eagle, who easily blocked the attack.

Eagle tried her best to do a counter attack, but suddenly something in Crane's mind awoke – something he hadn't felt in a long time; for years to be exact. It went all the way back to his days as a janitor at the Lee Da Academy.

In his mind, he somehow started imagining that there was laundry surrounding Eagle. He did not know why it suddenly occurred to him, but none the less, he felt more confident with it.

Crane simply imagined that he was collecting laundry, striking somewhat randomly towards Eagle, the latter being just barely able to block. The many random attacks seemed very spontaneous to Eagle and eventually Crane managed to disarm her – in other words defeat her.

This simply happened because of the special technique he used; having used staffs to take laundry off of clotheslines countless times, Crane had learned and developed a special technique for doing so. It basically involved Crane doing countless fast jabs with his staff, finally managing to make Eagle lose it by hitting just the right place: right next to where she held onto it. Besides, it was difficult for either of them to hold onto their staffs with no fingers.

"And the winner is Master Crane of the Furious Five!" Master Chao announced, getting quite the applause from the crowd. Crane just smiled, somewhat shyly, tilting his hat a little back, so that people could see him a little better.

"Not bad," Eagle replied with a teasing tone of voice, though Crane could hear that she wasn't quite satisfied with the result. Walking towards the bench, Eagle tossed the staff at one of the otter palace workers, feeling a little 'under the weather'.

Crane on the other hand handed his staff to the otter nice and easy. After that, the skinny avian landed on the bench beside his friends. It was with a satisfied smile that Crane saw the torch in their end of the arena become lit up. Who knew cleaning could be this useful?

"Nice going, Crane!" Po said excitedly and the others congratulated his victory as well. On Junjie's half of the bench, everyone remained quiet though, only interrupted by a snap from Junjie's finger and the sound of Gorilla getting off the bench.

"Yes, that means I'm up!" Monkey said, somewhat excitedly and jumped off the bench with a few front flips, getting quite the applause from the crowd.

"Showoff!" Mantis called, just getting a laugh out of Monkey as he made his way towards the center of the arena.

At the same time, Gorilla made his way to the arena as well, though in a more calm fashion compared to Monkey.

Once both primates stood in the ring of the arena, Master Chao announced, "Contestants ready?" The two bowed for one another. "Begin!"

Monkey immediately swung his staff about, doing a lot of crazy spins and techniques. It was mainly for intimidation, but unfortunately it didn't quite have the desired effect.

"Are you done?" Gorilla asked dully.

"Alright, alright, don't be such a downer," Monkey said in a teasing tone of voice. Just then Gorilla started out with the first attack. Monkey blocked it and countered with a similar attack, though aiming a bit lower.

Gorilla jumped into the air in response, but managed to block the attack at the same time. Gorilla then attempted another attack, which Monkey blocked.

Monkey used his staff to jump high into the air, then swung his staff downwards towards Gorilla, who managed to block. For a short moment, Monkey managed to balance on top of his staff, but with a few backflips, he got back onto the ground again. As soon as he landed, he also had to block another attack from Gorilla.

Monkey soon countered with an attack on his own, but Gorilla managed to block this as well.

Gorilla then counterattacked with a powerful thrust with his staff. Monkey just barely managed to block, but he almost fell backwards due to the force of the attack.

Pulling back Gorilla repeated this. However, this time, Monkey dodged instead. Monkey quickly saw how much force Gorilla put into the attack and how little everything-else he put into it. Maybe this was his weakness – if Monkey could take advantage of this somehow, he'd be sure to win! Probably at least.

As Gorilla approached with a similar attack, Monkey dodged, but this time he also managed to hit Gorilla's staff around where the larger primate held onto it. This caused Gorilla to drop his staff.

At this, the crowd started applauding loudly and Monkey waved around at them, bowing several times as well.

"And the winner is Master Monkey of the Furious Five!" Master Chao announced, getting a giant applause from the crowd.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," Master Zihao started. "We will move onto the second round – sword skills!"

"Sword skills?" Po asked as the crowd started cheering again. "Uh! Let me take the first round, please!"

"… Fine," Shifu said. Seeing that they were already ahead of the Six, Shifu saw no problem with it and let Po have his way. "Go ahead, Panda."

"Eagle, you're up," Junjie said on his half of the bench. "If you can handle it, that is."

"Of course I can, Master," Eagle said confidently. Taking off directly from the bench, she flew towards the middle of the arena, grabbing a sword from one of the otters on the way. She gracefully landed and waited for her opponent to be ready as well.

Po made his way to the center of the arena. Just his mere presence was enough to get applauses from the crowd. This annoyed Eagle a little, but she eventually chose to ignore it.

"Contestants ready? Begin!" Eagle did a few quick tricks with her sword, then took on a battle stance and waited for Po to make the first move.

"Nice moves," Po said eagerly and tried with some similar moves, though they weren't quite as fluid as Eagle, almost causing her to laugh by seeing it.

"How do you like this?" Eagle asked and made the first attack, not bothering waiting for Po to do so. The first strike was a direct one aimed at Po's chest area. Po brought up his sword to block, then made an attack on his own. This one was aimed a little higher and Eagle easily knocked Po's sword aside and made another strike, which Po was just barely able to dodge.

Po then struck towards Eagle, which she blocked. Eagle then jumped into the air with a sideflip, smashing her sword towards Po at the same time. Po barely managed to block this attack and then replied with a strike on his own.

Eagle jumped backwards, dodging. She then jumped into the air and spread her wings. Somehow she was able to soar and also able to attack Po at the same time, holding her sword in her right wing.

Po was somewhat impressed by this and it also caused him to be surprised when he was attacked by Eagle. Po almost missed the first strike, but eventually blocked the next incoming ones and he was also able to attack back.

Eagle landed again and turned her sword, so that the blade was pointing downwards, then jumped into the air. As she did this, she made herself spin around, while turning herself so that she was completely horizontal.

Po blocked the move, but soon Eagle tried with the same technique, though she spun the opposite way this time. As Po blocked the move again, Eagle turned the sword so that she held it with its blade pointing upwards like one usually would.

Eagle then sent a series of slashes against Po, who could barely manage to block it. Finally the two warriors clashed their swords against one another's. They stood like that for a few moments.

Then the two started pushing against one another with all their force. Suddenly Eagle stepped aside with a spin and Po fell onto the ground. He managed to make a roll when he landed, but that was when he realized that he had dropped his sword.

"And the winner is Eagle of the Selected Six!" Master Chao announced. This did get applauses from the crowd, but not enough to make it worth mentioning; there was barely anyone who cheered.

This was much to Eagle's annoyance, but at least she had still won. As she flew back towards her teammates, Junjie looked at Jinshu, telling his grandson to prepare for the final round.

"Tigress, I'm certain you can do this," Shifu said confidently. Tigress quickly nodded to her Master and got off the bench. As she got to the middle of the arena, she picked a sword and Jinshu joined her on the way.

Tigress and Jinshu both clearly remembered the night before… the things they, Jinshu for the most part, had said. And now… now none of them said anything at all, afraid they might say something wrong. It wasn't till they reached the center that Jinshu spoke.

"Tigress, I need to talk to you," he said, sounding somewhat humble.

"… Can't it wait?" Tigress asked rationally. "We're in the middle of a tournament and all…"

"But it's about last night… I…"

"Contestants, ready?" master Chao asked. The two quickly bowed to each other. "Begin!"

"But it's important," Jinshu insisted.

"Then what is it?" Tigress hissed lowly as the two started circling around each other.

"It's just… About yesterday," Jinshu said as the two kept circling each other. "I wanted to know…"

Jinshu didn't get to finish as Tigress made the first strike. She was aiming for his torso, but Jinshu jumped into the air, dodging her slash. He landed with a short roll, then as Tigress tried to attack him from behind, he brought up his sword so that it blocked her attack from hitting his back.

"What about it?" Tigress asked after Jinshu had spun around in a circle, still on his knees, trying to attack her. Tigress had blocked the attack and Jinshu had gotten to his feet while their swords were still clashed against one another.

"I just… Did you feel anything?" Jinshu asked, causing Tigress' heart to skip a beat in surprise. She pulled back, then slashed downwards towards Jinshu. Jinshu blocked with his sword, causing Tigress' to be half-locked between the blade and the hand guard.

While doing so, he brought his face close to hers. "Do you feel anything now?"

It was all too sudden for Tigress to answer. Instead Tigress withdrew her sword, pulled back and slashed sideways upwards. Her bamboo sword impacted with Jinshu's with such force that it flew out of his hand. The bamboo sword flew a great distance and landed a little away from the warriors' bench.

But Tigress could clearly tell that this wasn't the case; Jinshu had lost on purpose. How else would she be able to explain the sneaky, yet somewhat happy smile on his face?

"And the winner is Tigress of the Furious Five!" At this, the crowd went wild, cheering loudly and confetti started raining. And as the torch in the Five's end of the arena was lit, it showed that the two teams were very close… but the Furious Five were still ahead with one point.

"I take that as a no," Jinshu said, putting up a straight face. He turned around, but before leaving, he said, "That's what I thought."

"Congratulations to all our contestants!" Master Zihao said, causing the crowd to cheer once again. "The Furious Five are ahead with one point, but please don't let that discourage you, Selected Six!"

"Seems that at least one person is on our side," Eagle said, crossing her arms.

"The Sacred Onyx council would like to thank all of the contestants for a beautiful performance today – we wish you the best of luck tomorrow!"

The crowd continued their cheering, but suddenly something unexpected happened. Suddenly someone entered the arena, walking through the gate that Po and his friends had entered at the beginning of the tournament.

They were a little group. Up front was their leader, seemingly. He was a white rabbit with amber colored eyes. He wore some yellow and red robes with black trims. They seemed very expensive and from the looks of it, they were.

The rabbit was followed by various people, all very different. The only thing they had in common

"Honored citizens of Beijing," the rabbit started, almost sounding like Master Zihao or Master Chao. "I would be honored if you would listen to my words for a moment…"

"Oh no, not him," Po heard Master Zihao said. "Shui, get the guards in here!"

"Yes, father," the otter said. It had been quite a while since the last time Po and the others had talked to him, but here he was. Shui quickly got a hold of some palace guards, whom Po and the others hadn't seen till now. The guards were big, strong-looking boars and as they approached the group, the rabbit snapped his hands.

In response to this, a few of the people, who were with him, approached the guards. Suddenly, before anyone could react, a fight broke out.

Po was surprised to find that these guys knew Kung Fu and easily managed to take the upper hand against the palace guards. Po and his friends immediately got to their feet due to reflex, but were told to not do anything by Master Chao.

"No, don' you get near him!" Master Chao warned the six. Somewhat confused they looked at each other for a moment, then eventually chose to sit back down again.

"Now, if I may continue," the rabbit said as the guards and his followers were still fighting. "My name is Master Yuan; the head of the Rising Phoenix Council."

"You were," Master Chao said and got to his feet. "But you were expelled and you know the reason just as well as I do – you are not welcome here anymore."

"Master Chao, I do not believe that you should be one to talk about who is welcome and who is not," Yuan said. "After all – you just expelled me because of different views."

"And as I was about to explain, these views are what will forge our future," Yuan continued. "Each one of you has come here today for a specific reason – to see a tournament of Kung Fu."

"Yuan, this is my last warning…" But Master Chao didn't get further; Yuan made a flick with his hand and in the blink of an eye, Master Chao had deflected the dagger that Yuan had thrown towards him.

The dagger landed on the tiles of the arena and soon Master Chao and several other members of the council had had to jump down from their tribune and into the arena. And Junjie also joined them, due to his wish of joining the council again – this would give him some spotlight.

"Don't worry, Chao, I was on my way," Yuan said, facing the fact that he was surrounded. "But audience, contestants; mark my words: you will all have to face a fact sooner or later; Kung Fu is nothing but a weapon of power; you might all see it as a cheap way of entertainment, but…"

Yuan didn't get further with his speech as Master Chao and Master Ai Long were performing an advanced Chi move – the Golden Lotus Clap. Junjie picked up on this move and added to it, and soon a wave of golden chi energy was cast towards Yuan and his group.

The light got so intense that Po and his friends – as well as the rest of the audience – had to cover their eyes – otherwise they would have gone blind. Once the light of the golden energy move died down, Yuan and his folks were gone.


	10. Unknown Within the Known

**A/N:** Hi everyone! I am back with yet another update! I really hope you like this chapter. :) I do leave off at some point, but we'll return to that point in the next chapter. :) Also, my new story _When Legends were Young_... I am particularly proud of that one, so I'd be grateful if you'd go check that out. :) There's also a rather special link on my profile, but... oh well, at least I hope that this chapter is enjoyable. I'll see you with the next update - thanks for the continued support! :D

* * *

"Jinshu, can I have a short word with you?" Junjie asked his grandson. Junjie had found the silver fox in the palace's training hall along with a few of the other Six.

"Of course," Jinshu said, trying to hide the nervousness he felt due to the fact that he already knew what his grandfather would ask him about. Junjie led Jinshu out of the training hall and out to the palace's courtyard.

"Will you please explain to me what happened earlier today?" Junjie asked, crossing his arms behind his back, starting to walk back and forth in front of Jinshu.

"I… I lost," Jinshu replied, stating the obvious and also playing a bit dumb.

"Don't talk to me as if I'm some fool," Junjie warned his grandson in a somewhat harsh tone of voice and stopped. Sending his grandson a very stern look, he said, "Of course I know you lost. But I could also tell that you lost of purpose."

"I don't know what you're…"

"I saw how you were talking to that… Tigress," Junjie growled. "I'm not certain what you spoke to her about… but your mouths were moving."

Jinshu said nothing at this. He just stood there, looking into his grandfather's somewhat cold eyes for a moment. Finally Junjie started walking back and forth in front of Jinshu once again.

"Jinshu, I don't hope this means that you're actually having any feelings for her somehow…" Junjie stopped for a moment and looked over at his grandson. "If you are, don't let yourself give in to them."

"But… I never said that I had," Jinshu said, trying to keep his face as straight and cold as possible. "Even if I had… do you really think I would ever be able to get close to her?"

"No, certainly not," Junjie said. "But to me it sounds like you do…"

"But what do you know about feelings?" Jinshu suddenly blurted out. He immediately regretted it when he saw just how startled his grandfather looked.

"Well… I may not know a lot, but I do know one thing," Junjie said coldly – Jinshu could almost feel the coldness as a cool breeze blew by. "If you want to stay on this team, you better start showing some more discipline."

"… I am sorry, Master," Jinshu said and bowed. "That was much uncalled for."

"Sorry won't fix my faith in you," Junjie said coldly. "I will see you later at the party, Jinshu."

Jinshu clenched his fist once his Master was gone. Reentering the training hall, Jinshu's fist was still clenched. He felt the anger rush through him. Why hadn't he just confronted his grandfather with this? Jinshu knew for a fact that Junjie could not expel him from the Selected Six.

The reason for this was that Junjie's team would either lose or be disqualified, depending on the rule set for the tournament. The team would either be disqualified for losing or expelling a member, or they would have to remove the points that the leaving members had given the team; that way, they would lose at least two points.

"If just I had…" Jinshu sighed to himself, still clenching his fist.

"Had what?" Lynx asked, leaning up against a wooden dummy right behind Jinshu. Just then, Jinshu let his anger flow through his arm and into his fist. The silver fox's fist smashed against the wooden dummy, ultimately destroying it – at least most of it.

"Eh… maybe we should call it a day for the training," Lynx said, having almost lost his balance when the dummy he had leant up against had broken into countless pieces.

"Yeah, let's," Jinshu said coldly, causing Lynx to take a few steps away from the agitated fox. Putting on a softer tone when he saw his teammate's somewhat intimidated look, Jinshu said, "We better go get some clean clothes on."

* * *

"Shifu, I meant to ask you something," Po started. Along with Shifu, Po and the Furious Five were on their way through the palace. The tournament had just ended. But it had ended with somewhat of a mood change – the tournament had started out all joyfully, but since that Yuan came along, it had completely killed the mood.

And since the final rounds would take place the next day, Po and his friends figured that there would be a party that night, which would completely outmatch any they had ever been at – at least that was what they imagined.

But it turned out that there wouldn't be a party tonight – Shifu had said that they would have to save their powers for the tournament rounds the next day; according to Shifu, the next day would be the hardest out of the entire tournament.

"Is it important?" Shifu asked. "If not, can it not wait till tomorrow?"

"Well, I don't know if it is important or anything," Po started, somewhat unsure of whether he should ask or not. But eventually he asked, "Those guys from earlier today… who were they?"

The seven walked for a while without talking. Shifu didn't look like it was anything that the red panda wanted to talk about… or anything that he wanted Po and his friends to know about for that matter. For a moment Po actually expected Shifu to not answer and was about to ignore the fact that he ever asked, but suddenly Shifu replied.

"They were from… the Rising Phoenix Council," Shifu said, not sounding like it was a topic that was worth talking about.

"The Rising Phoenix Council?" Crane asked. "But… the council at the Palace of the Rising Phoenix is the Onyx Council."

At this Shifu didn't reply right away once again. The old Master stopped and so did the six students.

"Master?" Tigress asked, not quite understanding why her Master didn't reply to Crane's statement. To her it seemed weird – everything also what Master Chao had said. It had been like Master Chao hadn't even wanted Po, the Five and the Six to get near this… Yuan, for some reason. Po didn't quite understand why. How dangerous could he be, Po thought.

"I wish I could tell you more, but I made a promise to Master Chao…" Shifu started walking again. "I am truly sorry, but I cannot."

"What do we do, Master?" Viper asked. But before any of the six students could ask anymore, they came to the barracks of the palace.

"Now, don't talk to anyone about it; just act like it never happened. Are we clear?" Shifu asked.

"Yes, Master," all six students said in unison before their Master left – he apparently had to go talk to the council members… Po's guess was that it was most likely about what had happened earlier that day.

"It was weird," Monkey said. "What happened today… and no one even tells us a word about it."

"I guess it's because we shouldn't trouble our minds with it," Tigress said. She stopped for a second. "After all, Master Chao and the rest of the council seemed upset."

"Right," Monkey agreed. "Besides, we have a bust day tomorrow – maybe we should just keep a low profile till tomorrow."

"Agreed," Viper said. "Now we just need to find something to do until dinner is ready."

First off, Po suggested that they would go take a look around the city. Everyone agreed and the six went towards the gates of the palace.

"So what do you want to do in Beijing?" Mantis asked Po.

"Uh! What about we go buy some useless souvenirs?" Monkey suggested.

"Useless souvenirs?" Po asked, somewhat confused, trying to imagine whatever that could be.

"Yeah! I like souvenirs," Monkey said with a grin. "Especially the useless ones!"

"Why?" Crane asked, somewhat confused.

"They're pointless!" Monkey said, as if it was logical. "You just buy them to have them!"

As they continued the somewhat strange conversation, the six warriors came to the exit of the palace. There were two of the boar palace guards, standing on each side of the door. This was new. All the other nights there hadn't been guards there.

"Halt," one of the guards said, stepping in front of the door, preventing the six from exiting. "We cannot let you go out."

"Why not?" Po asked confused. Was this all because of what happened earlier that day?

"Under orders of Master Chao, no one is allowed to neither enter nor exit the palace," the other guard said. "We're very sorry, Dragon Warrior, but we cannot go against our orders."

"Ugh, alright, we'll just find something else to do," Po told his friends. "I'm sure there's something to do at the palace…"

"Aww, not allowed to go out?" Po and his friends looked up to see Jinshu, Lynx, Eagle, Gorilla, Stag and Cobra. The Selected Six had grins on their faces as if they were all allowed to do something that Po and his friends weren't. But Po knew for a fact that the Selected Six weren't allowed to go out either – the guard had said that no one was allowed to go either way.

"No… are you?" Mantis asked skeptically.

"In just a second," Jinshu said. "Cobra?"

The black and white reptile made his way towards the two palace guards. As soon as both guards looked at him, Cobra expanded his frills, revealing two eye-like patterns.

Cobra hissed lowly and Po noticed how the two guards suddenly seemed dizzy. Was Cobra really hypnotizing them? How so?

But it did seem to work… somehow. The guards seemed dizzy as if they could fall over any second – just the lightest touch would seemingly be enough.

"So? Shall we go?" Jinshu chuckled once he saw Po and the Five's surprised, somewhat impressed expressions.

"I'm not going," Tigress said. Her friends had somewhat expected this, since this would all mean breaking rules. "I'll stay here."

"That's okay, Tigress," Viper said. "I will go, though – someone with common sense has to go with the others, right?"

"Hey!" Mantis said, but was ultimately ignored.

"Okay, whatever," Eagle said and exited the door, following after Cobra, who soon started hypnotizing the guards on the other side.

"Jinshu, are you coming, or what?" Gorilla asked.

"Hmm… No, I think I will stay here," Jinshu said. "If my grandpa catches us or sees that we're gone, it'd be best if at least one of us stays here."

"Suit youself!" Lynx said. "Let's go!"

As soon as the remains of their two groups were gone, Jinshu looked at Tigress. She looked at him as well. But none of them spoke. The two eventually had to leave when the guards started 'waking up.'

The two continued down the hallway of the palace for a while, still not speaking at all. Suddenly Jinshu turned towards Tigress, just staring at her for a moment. "Tigress…"

* * *

Po and the others made their way down the streets of Beijing. The ten had all dressed themselves with cloaks (Except Viper, who had wrapped herself around Po's neck). It made them look like some kind of strange – like some kind of gang – but nonetheless, they weren't recognized and people didn't seem to even want to get near them either.

One of the first things they came across was a small market. It was similar to the marketplace they had been at the previous day, but there also seemed to be a lot of spice at this one – according to Gorilla, these salesmen came from some country called India.

"India is actually quite a fascinating place," Gorilla told Crane as the ten made their way through the marketplace. To Po and the remaining members of the Five, it was still somewhat strange to be near the remaining of the Six without fighting in the slightest. But nonetheless, it was actually nice to talk to them.

"Have you been there?" Crane asked somewhat surprised.

"No… but I do have my resources of research," Gorilla admitted.

"Really? What is your source?" Crane asked, immediately interested.

"The Palace's achieves," Gorilla asked, lifting his hood a little, sending Crane a sly smile. "I can show you how to get in there easily later."

"Aren't entering these forbidden by non-council members?" Crane asked surprised.

"Exactly," Cobra said, chuckling to himself under Gorilla's hood.

"See, they're not really that bad," Viper told Po under the panda's hood.

"I guess not," Po muttered. "At least Crane and Gorilla gets along… More than what you can about Mantis and Stag."

Mantis and Stag still argued over just about anything; whether it was the prices of the marketplace… whether it was… well, just about anything that came to mind.

"I don't know if I really want to break such a big rule in order to get information," Crane muttered, continuing his and Gorilla's conversation.

"Oh well, to each his own," Gorilla said. "I just happened to find some information, which I would like to share with you – all of you."

Having turned towards the entire group – minus Monkey, who had found a souvenir collection – Gorilla said, "But we need to find a less crowded place first."

"I know a place," Eagle said. She had shortly disappeared moments ago, but now she was carrying a bag with stuff she had seemingly bought. From the looks of it, it seemed to be food.

Eventually the group followed Eagle and they came to a restaurant. It didn't seem to be very popular as it was also somewhat deserted; there was barely anyone there. The group all sat down – in total, only four of them sat down, since Cobra and Viper were hiding under Gorilla and Po's hoods and Mantis and Stag sat on each of Monkey's shoulders.

The restaurant was only lit by a few small lanterns in the ceiling and the group decided that it was safe for them to take off the hoods of their cloaks. Viper and Cobra eventually slid off of their carriers necks as well and took place around the table.

"So what is it that you wanted to tell us?" Po asked curiously. Maybe it was some kind of deep, dark secret about the palace or the council members.

"It's… well, remember those weirdoes that entered the arena earlier today?" Gorilla asked. Po and his friends nodded in response. "Well, Cobra and I got into the Rising Phoenix Archives a few hours ago and I managed to find out who they were."

"So who are they?" Po asked. "And exactly what were they talking about?"

Gorilla had to wait a while before answering as a waiter came to their table. Eagle ordered some tea and bean buns for everyone and soon the waiter left again. Obviously the Selected Six had more money to spend than Po and the Five, given how much Eagle had already spent.

Gorilla cleared his throat. "Anyways, they were the Rising Phoenix Council."

"But that's the name of the palace," Po said, raising a very good point. "Why aren't they at the palace instead of the Onyx Council?"

"It's actually quite the story," Gorilla said. "Many years ago when Master Chao had just become member of the council, he and Jinshu's grandfather…"

"Jinshu's grandfather?" Viper asked.

"Junjie," Cobra replied. In a way, it surprised Po and his friends. The two shared nothing that Po would call a family bond – at least not from the looks of it. Po's relationship to Mr. Ping was much less shallow!

"Really – Jinshu is the grandson of Junjie?" Crane asked.

"I thought it was obvious," Stag said. "They're both foxes after all."

"Sure, but they don't look like each other at all; have you not seen how much taller Jinshu is?" Mantis stated, already stirring up another argument.

"That is not important," Gorilla said, feeling the need to stop the two insects before it got serious. "What is important is that the two eventually found out about the Rising Phoenix Council and their… methods of treating Kung Fu."

"According to them, everyone who didn't know Kung Fu was lower in society than they," Gorilla continued once the tea and bean buns had arrived. He picked up a cup and took a sip of it. It surprised Po to see, given that the cup was almost smaller than his fingers.

"Why?" Crane asked. "Kung Fu is something you learn, right? It's not like it's a special job or anything; it's just like any other art you can learn."

"Exactly," Gorilla agreed, snapping his finger. "But their leader Yuan, whom you also saw today, saw Kung Fu as a prestigious _weapon of force_. According to him, Kung Fu should only be used for ways of war."

"But that is the completely opposite of what Master Oogway thought," Po pointed out. Po knew that Master Oogway, the creator of Kung Fu had had a much more peaceful look on Kung Fu during his years of living.

Cobra nodded. "When I was at the academy I had to read all of the stuff about Oogway… But I did see that he had a point… Unlike me… I have a third view on Kung Fu."

"And what kind of view is that?" Monkey asked.

"I see Kung Fu as a prestigious art, which grants glory to its Masters," Cobra said. "I mainly agreed to fight for Junjie because of this."

"So you just wanted glory," Monkey asked.

Cobra nodded. "But that's not important. We need to focus here."

"Right," Gorilla said. "Anyways, the Onyx Council managed to exile the Rising Phoenix Council. The Onyx Council then took their place at the palace, but didn't change its name due to the little bit of respect they had for the other council."

"You know, that explains a lot," Po said, thinking it through again. Po had always wondered why the Onyx Council and the Rising Phoenix Palace didn't share the same name… Now this explained everything!

"Yeah, right?" Stag asked. "And this Yuan guy has kept a low profile for decades… but for some reason he has returned because of the tournament."

"Because of the tournament?" Viper asked.

"Yeah, of course," Stag said. "This tournament is one of, if not, _the_ most prestigious Kung Fu tournament in China. It'd be the perfect opportunity to spread his view on Kung Fu."

"… Why are you even sharing all this information with us?" Monkey asked, somewhat suspiciously, but mainly sounding surprised of all things.

"Because it concerns all of us," Eagle said. "We are all Masters of Kung Fu… therefore we thought that…"

Due to Eagle not finishing the sentence, Gorilla finished it for her. "We thought that we could form an alliance outside the tournament."

Po looked at his friends. Maybe with the exception of Mantis, they all seemed to be up for it. Thinking it through, it did seem that it would be the best idea. "I think it sounds like a good idea."

"But we're still going to kick your butts in the tournament," Mantis said teasingly.

"Just bring it," Stag said, chuckling.

"So… we're all in?" Gorilla asked. Everyone nodded.

Eagle got to her feet. "It's all great, but now we just need to get out of here alive."

"What are you-?" Before Po could finish the sentence, Eagle did a short upwards-aimed punch. A second later, something hit the ceiling.

Looking up, Po saw a dagger stuck in the ceiling. He and the rest quickly got to their feet and took on battle stances.

"How did you foresee that attack?" Po asked amazed.

"I sensed them," Eagle simply said. "I always know when someone's watching me. You can come out… Rising Idiots."

"Well, I see you know about us," a familiar voice spoke. The group was suddenly surrounded by a gang of different people. They recognized some of them from those that had entered the arena earlier that day. Stepping into the light, Yuan said, "But I cannot allow you to interfere with our tournament activities."


	11. Flourishing at Last

**A/N:** Okay, you guys probably saw this one coming... So here it is! Enjoy! :D

* * *

As soon as the remains of their two groups were gone, Jinshu looked at Tigress. She looked at him as well. But none of them spoke. The two eventually had to leave when the guards started 'waking up.'

The two continued down the hallway of the palace for a while, still not speaking at all. Suddenly Jinshu turned towards Tigress, just staring at her for a moment. "Tigress…"

Tigress stopped and so did Jinshu. In the dark hallway, the two were still able to see each other – Jinshu could see Tigress' eyes shine beautifully in the dark room due to her night vision; Tigress could clearly see him with her night vision.

As he watched her in the darkness, she looked fierce, almost menacing. Yet Jinshu still found her somewhat attractive – there was just something about her… Jinshu didn't know what it was, but he just knew that there was something.

"What is it?" she asked timidly after a few seconds of staring. In response, Jinshu dared take the first step towards her, careful – as to see if she would accept him coming closer.

To Jinshu's relief, she didn't reject him and eventually he stepped even closer. Soon he was standing centimeters from the tigress. "Tigress… Since I saw you, I was afraid…"

"Afraid?" Tigress asked, somewhat hurt. "Of me?"

"No, not that," Jinshu quickly replied, realizing his mistake. He didn't realize why though. "How could anyone ever be afraid of you?"

Tigress just shrugged, not wanting to answer. Eventually Jinshu continued.

"I was afraid… of talking to you," the silver fox explained, eventually looking down, unable to meet her eyes.

"And now?" Tigress asked.

"Now… now I'm afraid of…" Jinshu briefly stopped. In a very low mutter, he finished, "… loving you…"

"Pardon, I don't think I heard that right," Tigress said, even though she was sure she had heard correctly – she simply wanted Jinshu to say it louder.

"I… I was afraid of loving you," Jinshu said. The silver fox immediately felt somewhat embarrassed by admitting this and immediately turned away from Tigress, not wanting to see her face.

Tigress wasn't really taken by surprise by what he had just said. No, she had been surprised by how much emotion he had put into those words. Was he really speaking the truth? But more importantly, did she feel the same?

As Tigress took too long to react, Jinshu took it as a rejection and sighed. He then started walking without even looking at Tigress.

But suddenly a paw landed on his shoulder, stopping him from continuing. Jinshu turned his head and looked at Tigress. She was looking at him as well. Finally she spoke. "Jinshu… there's nothing to be afraid of, really."

"Do you mean… you feel the same?" Jinshu asked, sincere surprise in his voice. Tigress blushed, but eventually nodded.

"I don't know how though," she said. "I just do."

Jinshu's eyes lit up and he almost looked like he could faint. He then reached out and took her paws into his own. Her fur was soft, but underneath, Jinshu could feel rough, strong paws – the result of years of training.

Jinshu gently let go of her paws and put his paws on her waist. Tigress blushed, but as Jinshu pulled her closer, she placed her paws onto his, stopping him.

"Jinshu… we… it could never be us," Tigress said. Jinshu almost looked like he had seen a ghost. Without thinking about it, he felt his hands let go of Tigress' waist and fall to his sides, but to his surprise she placed them back there again… even despite what she had just said.

"But… I thought you felt the same way," Jinshu said, sounding both confused and hurt.

"I do… but… our Masters would never allow it," Tigress said, looking away for a moment.

"Tigress," Jinshu said. Tigress looked over at him and he continued, "I would gladly defy my grandfather to be with you."

"But…" Tigress remembered how Shifu had reacted upon seeing her near Jinshu at the last party. "Master Shifu… he wouldn't understand."

"I know," Jinshu said. "Most of the older Masters don't understand feelings."

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked.

"My grandfather… he probably knows about my feelings for you."

"Your grandfather?"

"Junjie," Jinshu said. Junjie was Jinshu's grandfather? Now, this was all the more reason for Tigress not to trust Jinshu. But… the question was… _did_ she trust him at all? _Did_ she have feelings for him or was it all something she tricked her own mind into believing?

"Jinshu... I don't know what to do," Tigress said. Jinshu's expression on his face immediately changed to a more hurt one.

"It's because he's my grandfather, isn't it?" he asked, letting go of Tigress' waist, stepping away. The look in Jinshu's eyes almost killed the hardcore Tigress, but before she could do anything, the silver fox said, "I thought you actually felt something."

"Jinshu, wait," Tigress said, but before she could do anything, Jinshu left, leaving Tigress alone with a lot to think about.

Watching him leave, Tigress could only wonder… wonder if she really didn't trust him because of his grandfather. Tigress sighed and looked down. Had she just made a mistake far bigger than she had thought at first?

After all, family relations weren't quite an assurance of a person's true nature; Lord Shen had been completely different from his parents. Maybe she should go apologize to…

"Tigress?" Tigress jumped slightly and turned around to face Master Shifu.

"Yes, Master?" she asked, hoping that Shifu hadn't seen or heard any of what had just happened between her and Jinshu.

"What were you two doing?" Shifu asked, much to Tigress' shock and dismay. "Why was he…? His hands, what was he doing?"

At first Tigress couldn't find the words to reply. What was she supposed to say? She was certain that Shifu wouldn't like it if she said that they… felt something. But what else could she say?

"He… He just… held me," Tigress finished the sentence. Shifu's facial expression immediately changed to a very astonished one.

"And you… you told him off, didn't you?" Shifu asked, just to be sure.

"… No," Tigress said, looking everywhere else, so that she wouldn't have to look at Shifu.

"… You didn't?" Shifu asked, looking at her with a mixture of amazement and astonishment.

"No," Tigress repeated, starting to feel less and less embarrassed.

"May I ask why?" Shifu asked, obviously quite a bit agitated by this.

"Because… I liked it," Tigress said. It felt weird – this was the second time Tigress had defied Shifu, but the first time where it was only for her own benefit. For a moment the Master and the student stood there not speaking at all.

"Shifu, I know you're disappointed," Tigress said in a soft tone of voice. "But it's the first time I've ever felt this towards someone else."

"So you really do love him?" Shifu asked. Tigress nodded. "Are you completely sure?"

Tigress did hesitate for a second, but eventually nodded again. "I do."

"Then I guess I cannot stop you," Shifu said as if this meant the death of Tigress.

"Stop me?" Tigress asked. "Are you really that much against it?"

"I'm sorry Tigress," Shifu said, one of the few times the old Master had ever apologized to her. "I just don't like it… He is one of Junjie's students and…"

"Master, he is Junjie's grandson," Tigress said, unveiling what she had just discovered. Shifu just stared at her due to this, not speaking. "And I know it will make you like it even less, but… I love him. And I have made a mistake… I have to go now, Master."

"Tigres… Tigress!" Shifu called after her as she left, but the tiger didn't listen. Shifu was astonished. He certainly didn't like what Jinshu did to Tigress. She usually wouldn't ever disobey and ignore her Master blindly like this.

Shifu didn't know what to do about this. His students, heck, his daughter, claimed to love his rival's grandson… But how was this possible? Tigress knew that Shifu didn't like Junjie… She knew about their past rivalry.

Yet… she didn't care about it; she didn't judge Jinshu for who his grandfather was… and maybe Shifu should do the same.

* * *

Tigress walked through the barracks of the palace. She sneaked as silently as she could – which was very, very quietly. She looked around and eventually saw that there was light inside one of the barracks. She knew for a fact that it could only be one person and walked up to knock on the door.

"Jinshu?" she asked softly while knocking.

"I'm sleeping," the silver fox replied, still inside the room.

"I know you're not sleeping," Tigress sighed. Jinshu didn't reply, but she could clearly hear a sigh from inside his room. "Listen, I just want to…"

"No, I'm sleeping," Jinshu repeated, making Tigress hiss lowly at his display of childish behavior.

Not caring about what Jinshu had just said, Tigress opened the door to Jinshu's room. She found that the silver fox sat on the edge of his bed, looking up when Tigress entered.

Without a word, Tigress walked towards Jinshu. Jinshu sighed and got to his feet. He was just about to tell Tigress off, but suddenly the most unexpected thing in the world happened; she kissed him.


	12. Encountered

**A/N:** And... here's another bridge-chapter... Again, kind of pointless, but I felt like it was time to update this story, so... well, here goes... ^^;

* * *

"Interfere with your tournament activities?" Lynx asked. "You're the idiots who're trying to ruin it for us!

"We are not involved in the tournament itself – that kind of waste is out of word for us," Yuan said arrogantly. He stepped a little closer, causing them all to flinch shortly, ready in case he did anything. "There is no reason to be afraid, Dragon Warrior – I will not hurt you."

"Then why don't you let us go?" Mantis wanted to know.

"I said I would not hurt him – I was talking in singular," Yuan growled at Mantis. "However, if we could get the Dragon Warrior to join our ranks… now that would be a great milestone for the Council."

"Like I would ever join you," Po said sassily. "You guys see Kung Fu as a tool of war, isn't that all you see?"

"Partially, yes," Yuan admitted. "But there is so much more to Kung Fu. It is not a stupid game that you can have tournaments based around; it is not just something you Master easily; Kung Fu is an art!"

"Po did master it pretty quickly," Monkey said, which the rest of his friends – and Po – all agreed on.

"That is only to be expected by the Dragon Warrior," Yuan said. "Now, Dragon Warrior, will you join us? If not, you are against us – by definition that is."

"Then I will be against you," Po said. "I cannot turn down justice for injustice."

"We all have our own definition of justice here, it seems," Yuan said, then snapped his fingers. "Destroy them."

Yuan's minions soon attacked the ten. Being surrounded and outnumbered seemed like bad odds, but there was nothing to do, but to fight their way out.

Po jumped forwards, blocking an incoming punch from the wolf before him. Blocking another punch as well, Po jumped into the air and kicked him in the chest.

Suddenly someone jumped against Po, pushing him aside. As Po hit the ground, he saw that it was in fact Lynx. Looking back at where they had been seconds ago, he saw a clutch of quills stuck in the wall.

Lynx quickly jumped towards the counter of the restaurant (The owner had fled a long time ago) and grabbed a handful of chopsticks in each hand. As the porcupine that had fired the quills attempted the same, Lynx would throw chopsticks in response.

Po had to admit that he was impressed by Lynx's skills. Po saw that Lynx was running out of chopsticks and quickly jumped past the lynx and hitting the porcupine with kick as well.

"That was close," Po said after knocking out the porcupine.

"Eh… very close in fact," Lynx said. He then pointed towards his own head. "You've got a quill there."

Po reached up to feel and flinched as he realized it. "Ouch… would you… remove it?"

Lynx quickly pulled it out, getting another 'ouch' out of Po. Po thanked him and added, "I was never a fan of acupuncture."

Meanwhile, Mantis and Stag were fighting together against some of Yuan's other minions. The small insects had an easy time defeating the minions, even despite the huge size difference. Using sheer force, Stag grabbed a hold of a wolf's ankle with his antlers, then spread out his wings and flew upwards, smashing the wolf against one of his teammates.

As Stag threw a pig into the air, Mantis delivered a flying jump-kick to him, making him crash against a table. As another minion tried to attack Mantis with a club weapon, Mantis jumped up, punched the club away, spun around midair and kicked him in the head.

"We need to get out of here," Po told Gorilla.

"Agreed," the large primate replied. "It'll be easier for us to fight outside."

"You're not going anywhere," Yuan said and blocked their way. He drew another dagger and held it towards the group in a threatening manner.

"Let me take this one!" Lynx said and jumped in front of the two, throwing chopsticks at Yuan, much like Po had seen Yuan himself throw daggers.

Yuan grabbed his dagger backhand style and with a few quick slashes, he turned the projectile turned chopsticks into nothing but splinters.

"You really thought you could defeat me with chopsticks?" Yuan asked harassingly. "I am your superior."

"Being older doesn't always mean you're superior," Gorilla pointed out. At this Yuan jumped forwards with a slash. The three jumped aside and as soon as Yuan landed, a dual gust from Crane and Eagle's strong wings distracted him by whirling up dust from the floor.

This was the perfect chance to escape and all ten warriors took it. Getting outside into the city, they immediately headed for the palace.

"We need to distract them," Crane told Eagle, who muttered bitterly, finding it cowardly to flee. She eventually agreed and the two avians set for one of the stands that had spice from India. Flapping their wings as powerfully as they could, they managed to whip up a small storm of spice against Yuan and his minions.

Seeing their reaction, Po couldn't help but imagine how painful it must have been to be overwhelmed with spice – they got in their eyes and everything! Grimacing from the thought, Po eventually continued along with the others.

"Come on, it's right this way," Gorilla said as they all ran. A lot of people stared and even seemed to recognize the ten. But Po and the others didn't care; they simply kept running.

Seeing the palace up ahead, Po sighed with relief and along with the others, they made the final run for it.

"Cobra!" Gorilla said, wanting Cobra to hypnotize the guards in order to get inside. The reptile jumped onto Gorilla's one should and as Gorilla stretched his arm forwards, Cobra snaked his way around it and eventually launched himself from the large primate's hand.

Flying through the air, Cobra elegantly landed in front of the guards that guarded the door. Before any of the two boars could ask any questions, Cobra expanded his frill and started swaying back and forth. As the hypnosis started taking effect, the others reached Cobra and made their way inside.

"That was close," Crane sighed and landed beside Po.

"I still don't get why we had to flee," Eagle said.

"Because we were late," Stag said sarcastically.

"Actually you were – dinner is served soon." Everyone jumped when they heard Jinshu's voice. They all turned around and saw the silver fox standing there, a sly grin on his face.

"You're lucky any of the Masters weren't here," Tigress said, entering the scene. She walked up next to Jinshu, standing unusually close to him. But other than that, they both kept up their usual calm attitudes.

"Not quite." This time everyone froze. Turning around, they all found Master Shifu and Master Chao.

"We are so dead," Po whispered to Gorilla, who almost looked like he had seen a ghost.

"I believe so, Panda," Shifu said, a stern, unimpressed expression on his face. He then turned to Tigress and Jinshu. "You two; go prepare yourselves for the dinner – get dressed up – we will take a quick talk to your teammates."

"Sounds fine by me," Jinshu said and turned around. Alongside Tigress the two walked towards the barracks as Shifu and Chao started their lecture. Po sighed deeply, but then as he looked out of the corner of his eye, he saw something he had never expected to see: Jinshu's paw strived Tigress' as they walked and eventually he took her paw in his! The weirdest part however; she returned it!

"Panda, are you listening?" Shifu growled at Po. Snapping back to what was right in front of him, Po looked down at Shifu again.

"Yeah, of course," Po said, trying to sound convincing.

Shifu didn't seem quite convinced by the panda. "Just know that I'm disappointed in you – all of you."

"Shifu, allow me to do this," Master Chao said. Shifu simply nodded and bowed, withdrawing.

"I hope you all understand why you have upset us," Master Chao said, his cold reptilian stare hitting all of them. "Yuan is a dangerous man. His words can almost convince anyone… or throw anyone into despair."

"But we survived," Po said, causing him to get his foot stomped by Gorilla as this wasn't the right time to be saying such a thing.

"That could have been luck," Master Chao said. He then looked at Eagle. "And I am certain that at least some of you gladly would have stayed and taken up the fight against them."

"But we did fight them for a while," Eagle said, clenching her wing feathers together like a fist. "And they were easy to handle!"

"You might say that now," Master Chao said. "But what will you do the day you're faced with all of his followers?"

"There are more people supporting Yuan than you would believe," Master Chao said calmly. "Most people don't talk about it – Yuan's group is suppressed by society."

"So we're just supposed to stay here and hide like cowards?" Eagle asked.

"As long as there's food," Cobra muttered, getting quite the glare from Eagle.

"You will all have to remain at the palace – for your own safety," Master Chao said. "And remember: if you do not, you may not be as lucky next time."

* * *

The dinner was kind of awkward. At least to Po. Everyone just sat there, eating – not a word was spoken.

Ai Long sat along with the other council members in the middle. Po saw her looking up, from side to side at her fellow members. But none of them spoke. Po remained quiet as he watched her look over at Shifu, sending him a little smile. But this smile was not returned. Ai Long sighed to herself and looked down at her plate.

Po almost couldn't stand the silence and looked at his friends. They remained quiet as well. Po looked over at Tigress. She sat next to Jinshu. What he had seen earlier… was it really true or had it been some kind of decoy?

But to Po, it seemed very unlikely; the two just sat there, not even looking at each other. No, of course they hadn't been holding hands! How ridiculous wouldn't that be?


	13. Drawing Closer

**A/N:** And finally, an update! And with this chapter, I bring you closer to the finals of the Rising Phoenix Tournament! I hope you're all still enjoying the story, even with my lack of updates lately. ^^; Enjoy the chapter, guys! :D

* * *

Po woke up early the next day. It was quite unusual for him, but it was a special day of course – the day of the finals! Because of this, the panda had woken up with lots of motivation and a ton of energy, ready to win!

He firstly made his way outside, seeing that the sun had just barely risen above Beijing. Stretching his arms above his head, the panda yawned. Po couldn't help but wonder how he had been able to wake up as the first and why the others hadn't.

"Ahem." Po turned around from and was faced with Master Shifu – at least he was up!

"Oh, good morning, Master!" Po said excitedly.

"Good morning, Po," Master Shifu said, a faint smile on his face. "Are you ready for today?"

"I'm so ready!" Po said doing a few punches in the air to express his enthusiasm.

"Good to hear," Shifu said, still smiling. Suddenly his face changed a bit. "I need to talk to you about something."

Shifu started to walk slowly across the palace courtyard and Po followed, keeping close to his Master's side. At first Shifu didn't say anything, as he was seemingly trying to find the words. This worried Po a little.

"Po, I'm worried," Shifu said. "For several reasons; the first is Tigress."

"What about her?" Po asked. "Is she ill?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it… ill," Shifu said. "I just fear that she won't be doing her best at the tournament."

"Why wouldn't she?" Po asked. "She's Tigress!"

Shifu didn't answer at first. He probably didn't know what to. Eventually he said, "It just seems that there are some things that keep her from doing her best. Po, I would like you to keep an eye on her."

"But…"

"Po, it is important for the honor of the Jade Palace that we win," Shifu said determinedly.

"And that is all that matters?" Po asked, somewhat daringly.

"That is all," Shifu said and turned around and walked towards the barracks again. Po just sighed to himself. He couldn't help but wonder whatever Shifu was talking about.

Wait, Po had seen Tigress and Jinshu hold hands… maybe it hadn't been his imagination! Maybe this was what Shifu was referring to! That would also explain why Tigress was so quiet and seemed so content when she was around the silver fox!

But what was Po to do about this? Talk her out of being near Jinshu?

"My, my, Dragon Warrior; you're already up?" a surprised voice spoke from behind Po. He turned around and was faced with Junjie. The red fox wore his usual attire and Po's trust immediately went on 'defensive-mode' – you could never know with Junjie!

"Yeah, guess so," Po said shortly. "Couldn't sleep."

"Seems you're excited for the finals," Junjie said, walking up next to Po. "Good luck."

"Thanks, you too… I guess," Po added in a mutter. Po didn't know whatever Junjie was trying, but he only knew that he couldn't trust him. But he had wished Po good luck… Maybe Junjie knew about Tigress and Jinshu and had decided to open up towards Shifu and his students?

No, it was impossible – Shifu and Junjie's rivalry went far too deep for a thing between their students to fix it.

"Po, my friend!" Po was almost pushed to the ground when Monkey suddenly landed on his shoulder. "Are you ready to kick some Selections?!"

"Selections… good one!" Mantis said with a snicker as he landed on Monkey's shoulder.

"Super-ready!" Po said excitedly. "Oh, and would you guys mind jumping off?"

"When have you gotten up?" Crane asked once Monkey had jumped off of Po's shoulder.

"Just a few minutes ago," Po replied.

"Seems like you've looked forwards to this," Viper remarked with a chuckle. "You're usually the last one up!"

"Hey!" Po and his friends all turned around and saw Gorilla and the rest of his teammates make their way towards them.

"Who's excited for the tournament; who's excited for the tournament?" Stag chanted happily and flew around the heads of the others while doing so, clapping his antlers together too. Soon Lynx also started chanting with Stag, causing Eagle to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"I guess they are," Monkey said with a chuckle, still watching the beetle fly around.

Suddenly Po noticed something; someone was missing. Hoping that no one noticed, Po carefully made his way towards the barracks again. But unfortunately he was.

"Hey, Dragon Warrior, where are you going?" Lynx asked, shortly stopping his chanting.

"I just have to check on something," Po replied. It wasn't actually a lie. Po soon made his way into the barracks. Carefully he walked through the hallway and soon found who he was looking for: Tigress!

But she wasn't alone. She stood with her left side facing Po. And in front of her was Jinshu. Po was very surprised to find that Tigress had her arms on Jinshu's shoulders and that Jinshu had his on her waist.

The two had their noses pressed together and were just staring into each other's eyes. It actually looked somewhat strange due to the remarkable size-difference; Tigress was at least one head taller than Jinshu.

Po had found what he was looking for and this also confirmed his belief. As the Dragon Warrior was about to leave, he took a step backwards, but unfortunately this made a loud creaking noise emit from the floor planks.

Tigress and Jinshu immediately looked up. Tigress' eyes widened once she saw that it was Po and she instinctively let go of Jinshu and both moved about one foot in each direction, trying to make it look like it had never happened.

"Po, what are you doing here?" Tigress asked, blushing madly. "I thought you had already gotten up."

"I had… I just… I guess I just forgot something," Po lied, scratching the back of his head. The awkward silence was killing him slowly – he had to do something. "Eh… I guess I'll just go join the others…"

Po quickly left and as soon as he was out of the barracks he started running. The others were nowhere to be found, but he just had to get away. But suddenly something landed in front of him.

"Po, you can't tell the others about this," Tigress pleaded. Po was truly surprised; this was the first time he had ever heard this tone from her – the tone of someone desperate. "It'll ruin everything; the tournament, everything."

At first Po didn't answer. He thought about it all for a moment. He had never had in mind to tell anyone, but he had mainly run in order to avoid the awkwardness.

"Tigress, I wouldn't have told anyone no matter what," Po said, smiling reassuring at his friend. Tigress also smiled at him and eventually gave him a quick hug.

"Do you think he'll tell the others?" Jinshu asked Tigress and walked up beside her as soon as the panda had run off again.

"No, I trust that he won't," Tigress replied, smiling. She then sighed. "I'm just afraid of what Master Shifu might do."

"Hmm… what are you talking about?" Jinshu asked with his one eyebrow raised.

"He knows," Tigress replied shortly.

"He knows?! How does he know?!"

"I told him."

"Why?!"

"Because…" Tigress stopped for a moment. "I don't want to hide anything from my Master."

Jinshu sighed. "If I told grandpa, I'd be dead, I'm pretty sure."

"You don't know until you try."

Jinshu said nothing, but he sent Tigress a very skeptical look. Tigress just sighed. Jinshu was probably right somehow.

"Wait, I have an idea!" Jinshu suddenly said.

"What?" Tigress asked, but her lover didn't reply; he simply headed for the dining hall to join the others for breakfast.

Little did they know, a shady character was watching.

* * *

As he ate breakfast, Po couldn't help but look over at Tigress and Jinshu, his gaze alternating between the two. The two didn't look at each other, let along talk – even though they were sitting right next to each other.

Even despite the silence between the two, everyone else was talking with each other. Looking over at the table, at which the Masters and the Council Members. Most of them seemed somewhat confused by how well all the twelve warriors got along – especially Shifu.

Shifu was mostly surprised by how they all seemed to have a good time… But nonetheless, he was also impressed… But he was also afraid that now his students wouldn't fight at their full potential. After all, it was somewhat difficult to trust them after the incident the previous day.

But maybe there wasn't that much to worry about – only time would show.

Suddenly Master Chao got to his feet. Everyone immediately fell quiet and the Master started speaking.

"Honored Warriors, today is the day of the finals," Master Chao said calmly. "It has been a wonderful few days and a pleasure to see everything you have been taught. However, no matter the results today, keep in mind: there is no such thing as actual winners; the important thing is that you have all done your best."

"And you will no longer have to worry about Yuan," Master Zihao said and got up as well. "He won't be able to interfere this time – we have aerial guards on."

Master Chao and Master Zihao both bowed and Master Chao said, "That is all."

"I'm pretty sure he's going to show up anyway," Eagle said confidently, crossing her wings. "We were just lucky to get away yesterday, remember?"

"True, but maybe we could just hope for the best," Lynx said, using a chopstick to launch a piece of tofu at Eagle, hitting her beak. She sent him a death threat through her eyes, but the little feline just chuckled to himself.

"Either way, we just have to be prepared in case something happens," Jinshu said.

"Where have you even been lately?" Eagle asked annoyed, looking away. There was a killing silence for a few minutes; no one dared even speak. Jinshu thought about what to say for a moment, but when he eventually got himself together, it wasn't quite what Eagle had hoped to hear.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jinshu simply said.

"Come on, your own grandfather chose you to be our so-called leader," Eagle said. "Yet we've all done fine without you on several occasions."

"Actually it was just one," Gorilla pointed out.

"Still… Still, it's like you've let us all down," Eagle said. "I've said it before and I say it again; I won't fight for you – I fight for Junjie…"

"Eagle, would you just shut up?!" Everyone in the entire dining hall was surprised by Jinshu's sudden outrage. Tigress just stared at Jinshu for a moment. This surprised her as well.

The one who seemed the most surprised was probably Eagle though. Up until this point, Jinshu had seemed to be the calmest and most reserved member of the Selected Six, but now he had just proven otherwise.

"Alright, then," Jinshu said. The silver fox got to his feet and walked a little away from the table. Then, loudly, he said, "Everyone! From this day on, Eagle is the leader of the Selected Six!"

All of the council members looked over at Junjie, confused by his student's strange behavior. "I am sorry about this. I can reassure you all he's just having a bad-…"

"Are you serious?" Eagle asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No," Jinshu said shortly, getting Eagle to get a very dull and disappointed facial expression. In a lower and calmer tone, Jinshu continued, "However I do admit that I haven't been much of a leader to you."

"Actually there haven't been a lot of situations where it was necessary," Lynx said, scratching the back of his head. "We have always just been our own leaders, I guess."

"Today is the finals," Jinshu said seriously. He sat down and unnoticed, Tigress took his one hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze. "And… I believe we should work together in order to win."


	14. Tournament Finals - Before the Storm

Po sat in his room. He was leaning forwards, his fingers tapping against each other. But, to say the least, Po was still nervous. He had only been a Kung Fu student for about two years, maybe a little more, yet here he was; about to enter the finals of the greatest Kung Fu Tournament in all of China!

Suddenly the door to Po's room was opened and Mr. Ping entered.

"Oh, Po, my boy, I'm so proud of you right now," Mr. Ping said happily. The old goose looked just like he was about to cry and with a smile, Po got up and his father caught him in a hug. "I bet you're so nervous right now."

"I am," Po said, trying to sound at least a little bit confident, but the tension he felt in his stomach made it come out as a whisper that only his father could hear.

"Don't worry, son," Mr. Ping said happily, looking up at his son as he broke free from the hug. "I will be on the front row, just cheering for you… and the others as well, of course."

"I know," Po said happily, almost feeling like crying himself.

"And all of China will know the outcome… How the Dragon Warrior will… Win." At this Mr. Ping simply lost it. Unable to hold back his tears of joy, the old goose grabbed Po in a hug again.

"Dad, don't cry," Po said, smiling. "I'll cry too!"

Mr. Ping pulled back and sniffed a few times. "I'm sorry, son. I'm just so proud."

"I know," Po said, smiling. "I'm proud to be your son as well."

* * *

It knocked on the door. "Dragon Warrior?"

"Come in," Po said and the door to his room opened. Po was surprised to see Shui enter.

"Shui, I haven't seen you for days!" Po said happily. "How are ya'?"

"Well, I'm fine," Shui said scratching the back of his head. "I just got back."

"Got back? From where?"

"Home," Shui replied. "My dad thought it'd be dangerous for me to stay here…"

"Your dad?" Po asked curiously.

"Yeah, Master Zihao," Shui replied. Po suddenly did remember the otter address the older otter as 'father' the day that Yuan appeared, but the in the confusion, Po hadn't spared it much thought.

"Oh, alright," Po said. "So… you got permission to come back, I guess?"

Shui nodded with a smile. "Yeah! Besides, the party tonight will be huge! They need extra staff to take care of it all!"

"Wait, so you're not coming to see the tournament?" Po asked surprised.

"I will, but not all of it, unfortunately," Shui said. "I will finish my duties as fast as I can – promise!"

"Awesome!" Po said happily. "It's going to be so great! And if we win… Oh, that'd be so cool!"

"Yeah, totally," Shui said happily. "I just came to wish you good luck, so… Yeah, good luck, Dragon Warrior!"

* * *

"Are you prepared?" Shifu asked calmly upon entering.

Tigress nodded. "I have been ready for this day ever since we got here."

Shifu simply nodded and watched his student for a few seconds. He then walked over to look out of the window of her room, his arms behind his back. "Tigress?"

"Yes, Master?" Tigress asked, feeling somewhat nervous, not knowing what to expect. Maybe it was about Jinshu. And if it was, what did Shifu want to say? Nonetheless, it sounded like it was important.

"I want you to know…" Shifu stopped for a moment. He then turned around to face his student. "That I'm proud of you."

Tigress was left speechless. Never had Shifu directly said this. And the way he said it… He sounded so fatherly – so… caring! It was a new thing to her… And it really did touch her… deeply. Without answering, Tigress just bowed to Shifu at first.

"I have always been," Shifu said. He then looked out of the window again. "I was especially proud of you when you told me about you and Jinshu."

"But I defied you, Master," Tigress said, very surprised by what Shifu had just said.

Shifu shook his head and turned towards Tigress. "No, you simply made a decision on your own. A Master would expect his student to be obedient at all times, but it still makes me proud to see that you have not become entirely thoughtless."

Shifu stopped for a moment and watched Tigress' surprised face for a moment. "I…"

"You have defied me once before," Shifu said calmly. Tigress lowered her ears slightly, remembering. It was back when Tai Lung had escaped prison… She had thought that she and the others would be enough to stop the snow leopard… But she had made a horrible mistake. "But this time, you did it for Jinshu."

"Master, you're mistaken," Tigress said, looking down. Shifu just tilted his head slightly, his ears perking up a bit. "I did it for myself – so that I could be with him…"

"No, you didn't," Shifu said. Now it was Tigress who looked confused. "You did it because you love him. And as it seems right now, even your old Master can't change that."

Without thinking for a moment, Tigress picked Shifu up and hugged him. Shifu was taken by surprise – literally – but eventually he hugged her back with his small arms… at least tried.

* * *

"Honored spectators! It is truly a great honor to welcome you all to the finals of the Rising phoenix Tournament!" Master Chao stopped shortly and the crowd went completely crazy. Po and his friends, including Jinshu and the others, stood in the center of the arena behind Shifu and Junjie, facing the Council.

Po was incredibly psyched and pumped; he could barely stand still. Looking over at his friends, Po could tell that they were pretty tense as well. Mantis was moving his claws restlessly; Monkey's tail was restlessly swaying from side to side; Tigress had her fists clenched and Po could tell how tense her muscles were.

But as Po looked around, he could also tell that the Six were tense and most likely also nervous – especially Jinshu and Gorilla seemed nervous.

Master Chao turned to the contestants. "You all have reason to be proud of yourselves and your teammates. You have all made it this far and whether you have lost or won your fights, you all are all champions."

Shifu, Junjie and the twelve students all bowed to the council and the crowd went wild again – Po could even hear his father's cheering amongst the others, or was that just his imagination? Either way, it just made him even more excited.

Master Chao sat back down and Master Ai Long got up. "Today is the day of coincidences – each and every battle today will be entirely random."

"The contestants for the individual battles will be chosen by the draw of two names," Master Zihao explained as Master Ai Long sat back down. Master Zihao held up two bowls, which two palace workers soon filled with small wooden bricks. Po noticed that none of them were Shui, unfortunately. Po just hoped that the otter would come and see them.

Master Zihao placed the bowls on the edge of the tribune, on which they were secured, so that they wouldn't fall off. Master Chao got up once again, and Po was surprised at how quiet the arena got – it was as if the crowd was holding their breath, preparing to cheer again when the time came. This time came soon enough.

Master Chao looked down at the contestants, then around the crowd for a moment. Then he put his hands in the air in a relaxed manner and spoke. "Now, let the finals begin!"

* * *

**A/N:** And so the finals begin. ;) This is a somewhat short chapter, but there's a reason for that; the next few chapters will be nothing but highly detailed fights. ;) Also, if there's someone you'd like to see fight each other, you can request it - unlike the rest of the tournament rounds, these fights will not be planned beforehand and I will also do it randomly. :)


	15. Finals I: Tigress VS Eagle

**A/N:**And here's the first battle! I know, this is pretty short, most of these will probably be. But either way, I hope you'll like this. :) Also, I'm adding some small segments with some development for each character - something that happens before the final rounds. :D

* * *

_Eagle restlessly walked back and forth in her room. She was trying to decide what to do with herself – her patience was wearing thin! She didn't have all day! The tournament… Everything she had trained for… It was today! She couldn't just sit still and wait! She had-…_

_Suddenly it knocked on her door. Eagle quickly turned around and hurried towards her door. She was hoping for Junjie telling her that the tournament was about to begin. But it wasn't._

_"Dad, what are you doing here?" Eagle asked surprised. The older eagle stepped inside. As usual, he was wearing just about the most expensive-looking outfit that anyone could wear, according to Eagle. Eagle had never been too fond of that kind of stuff though._

_"What do you think I'm here for?" he asked, smiling. "I'm here to see my daughter take part in the tournament."_

_"But… I thought you wouldn't show up at all," Eagle said surprised. True, her father hadn't showed up before to see her, but now he had… Of course Eagle hadn't expected his arrival._

_"What? I may be busy, but of course I'd see my daughter take part in the finals," her father said. "I could only see you one day, so I chose today as it seems the most important."_

_Eagle truly was surprised. Not so much by his choice, but again, because he even showed up._

_"Thanks," Eagle said, truly grateful for her father showing up. Eagle knew that her father was always busy due to being a rich salesman. He owned a lot of stuff and he was mostly known for selling old artifacts to people on the black market. But yet, he had taken the time to come and see her. "It really means a lot."_

_"I know." The older eagle then sent her a somewhat sad, yet still happy smile. "I know your mother would have been proud of you."_

_"Yeah…" Eagle stopped herself for a moment. "I wish she could have been here."_

_The two avians fell quiet for a moment. It was strange to Eagle to be having a tender moment like this… But just as long as none of her team members knew, she could still keep up her personal façade._

_"I'll be seeing you in the arena," her father said with a smile, about to leave. "Well, not actually, but… You know what I mean."_

_"Yeah, I do… See you, dad," Eagle said._

* * *

The entire arena remained quiet as the first two names were picked from the two bowls. Po almost yelled for Master Chao to hurry up as the reptilian's hand worked slowly on picking names, stirring around in the bowls.

Finally Master Chao picked two names. For a moment he looked at them. He then turned to the contestants in the arena. "The first battle is: Master Tigress versus Master Eagle!"

The crowd started cheering and after sending Tigress a quick smile, Po and the other contestants walked over to their usual benches. Just as he sat down, Po looked up to see the torches that counted the two teams' points, but was surprised to find that they weren't lit.

"Hey, Master Shifu, why aren't the torches lit?" Po asked.

"Simple," Junjie said from the other bench. "Both teams were equal, so the Council decided to reset the score… But I guess they didn't tell you, did they, Shifu?"

"And they told you, Junjie?" Shifu asked, his voice full of doubt. "Who did you have to eavesdrop on to get that information?"

Po carefully looked from Master to Master. Sitting in between the two, Po wished that he was the size of Mantis or at least sat elsewhere, so that he could be free of their crossfire of words. But fortunately the two decided to let their arguing wait.

Looking towards the center of the arena, Po watched Tigress and Eagle prepare themselves. Po was already trying to decide who would most likely win. Of course, Eagle could fly, was fairly strong and, from what Po had seen, pretty skilled with Kung Fu.

But then again, she was up against Tigress; Tigress was very strong, very quick and all around awesome when it came to Kung Fu! Po decided that he had gotten a conclusion to his inner conversation; Tigress would win – that was how it would have to be!

Finally the gong rang and the two women started circling around one another. The two continued for a little while and as soon as Po started cheering for Tigress, she made the first strike.

Tigress' first punch was dodged by Eagle, who jumped backwards. Eagle then counterattacked with a kick, which Tigress blocked with her wrist. Tigress then forced Eagle's leg away and countered with a jumping spin kick, which Eagle blocked with her wing.

Next Eagle moved under Tigress' leg and slashed towards Tigress with her wing. Tigress swiftly turned around, blocked the attack and hit Eagle with both her palms. This knocked Eagle slightly backwards and the crowd cheered for Tigress.

"That's how you do it!" Monkey cheered on the bench.

"Yeah; way to go, Tigress!" Mantis cheered.

Tigress took a half step backwards and blocked an incoming punch from Eagle, then countered with a kick, which Eagle then bowed to dodge. Next up Eagle pulled a little back, then jumped towards Tigress with a kick.

Dodging Eagle's talons, Tigress did a roll on the ground, then quickly got up, just in time to block another kick. Eagle had stayed in the air and had easily redirected her kick, but the avian was surprised to see that Tigress still managed to block her attack.

As Po knew just how strong and fierce Tigress was when fighting, he had to give Eagle props for making such a formidable foe for Tigress – it looked like the two could fight forever with no conclusion!

Eagle jumped up, did a backflip and on the way down, once she faced Tigress again, she did a cross chop with her wings, which Tigress just barely dodged. Po knew that Tigress didn't fight with her full strength, considering that the rules were against 'Brute use of force'… But that was just how Tigress fought, Po thought.

"I wish that rule about using force wasn't in effect," Po told his teammates as they watched the two women fight.

"Yeah, if it was, Tigress would easily win this one," Crane agreed. Everyone agreed and even Shifu said that he wished that the rule wasn't in effect. But as Po thought about it, he realized that the Selected Six's powerhouse, Gorilla, would pose a large threat to him and the Five. So maybe it was a good thing.

Tigress jumped forwards with a roar and a punch, which Eagle blocked with a cross formation with her wings, then forced Tigress forwards and at the same time tried to throw the feline on to the ground.

In return, Tigress turned around and delivered a punch to Eagle's chest, knocking the avian a bit backwards. Next Tigress sent a rain of quick punches towards Eagle, but the avian managed to block most of them, although a few did hit her successfully. But Eagle did manage to hit Tigress a few times as well.

Next Tigress jumped up and hit Eagle with a kick. Tigress then followed up with a few punches, which Eagle did manage to block. Before she knew it, Tigress' feet were swept away by Eagle, doing a spin.

Tigress almost fell, but managed to do a backflip and land back on her feet again, taking on a battle stance, causing the crowd to cheer loudly.

"Show-off," Po heard Lynx chuckle from the other bench, although there was a teasing tone to it. Looking back on the arena, Po watched Eagle suddenly take off, fly high into air.

From Tigress' perspective, Eagle became hard to see as the sun was almost right above the avian. Tigress narrowed her eyes, having a hard time looking up towards the sun without getting blinded from the immense light.

Suddenly, like a lightning strike of feathers, Eagle descended at full speed. Being blinded by the sun, Tigress almost couldn't see her until she was mere inches from being hit.

Tigress took one step backwards, turned around in a circle and in one swift motion hit Eagle with a powerful round house kick, adding a fierce roar. Once Eagle landed, she was surprised to find herself outside the ring that the two had been fighting in. She had lost.

"And the winner is Master Tigress of the Furious Five!" master Chao announced, getting a loud roar of cheers from the crowd. Meanwhile Eagle grumbled something that was impossible to hear and brushed some dust off her clothes.

Eagle got up and she and Tigress walked towards the benches side by side. Tigress was smiling faintly and panting, something unusual. When Po noticed this, he guessed that it was because she had been somewhat nervous and the tension had finally let up.

"Way to go, Tigress!" Viper cheered once she sat back down.

"Yeah, that was so awesome!" Po agreed.

"Really, this must have been one of your finest battles!" Mantis said. All of their cheering really did make Tigress happy on the inside and she almost had to force herself not to smile – otherwise it'd just look… silly, according to her… But she did give off a faint smile.

"Good job, Tigress," Shifu said, a faint smile on his face as well. Satisfied with her own performance, Tigress sat down next to Shifu.

Suddenly the entire arena fell quiet as Master Chao was about to pick the contestants for the next match. The entire arena fell quiet, just like they had before the previous match – just as if they were afraid they wouldn't hear whatever Master Chao would say.

* * *

_As Eagle got up, her sharp eyes quickly found her father in the crowd. Eagle was of course afraid that he'd be disappointed with her loss, but he just smiled at her. It surprised her a bit, but she eventually smiled back, realizing that he was still proud of her._

_Besides, there were more rounds to come, so hopefully Eagle would get to have another go. But Eagle was still happy as long as she knew her father wasn't disappointed._

_Knowing just how famous her father was among his peers and the hopes he had for her, Eagle was still surprised that he didn't mind her failure; he just sent her a reassuring smile._


	16. Finals II & III

**A/N: **Hi Guys! This chapter was originally supposed to be shorter, but then I decided to change it to a chapter with two matches! ^_^ Enjoy! :D

Also, if you want something different, check out my old account - Timbit the Lynx-Angel. :3

* * *

_"Master!" Junjie stopped and turned around to see Lynx as he was just about to exit the barracks of the palace._

_"Yes?" Junjie asked as the feline came closer to him. But just then, Lynx seemed to change his mind somehow._

_"… Nothing, never mind," Lynx said and turned around and was about to leave. But before he could, Junjie suddenly grabbed him by the hand – more specifically by his index finger._

_Lynx immediately froze as he recognized the hold – the Wuxi Finger Hold. "H-hold on, is this really necessary?"_

_"Well, you were about to tell me something," Junjie said with a straight face. "I won't let go till you do."_

_"But it's not important!" Lynx cried, but Junjie didn't let go._

_"I'm still waiting," Junjie said. Lynx flinched as Junjie slightly moved his pinkie to torment the feline._

_"I… Wait, I heard that the Wuxi Finger Hold doesn't even work," Lynx said, suddenly trying to sound confident._

_Junjie just moved his pinkie a little more and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"_

_"Alright, fine, I'll tell you," Lynx cried after a few seconds. "I just wanted to say that I would do my best in the finals."_

_"Is that all?" Junjie asked. Lynx nodded and eventually Junjie let go of his finger. Junjie then asked, "How come you wanted to tell me? I mean, it was already an expectation I had to all my students."_

_"Sure point… but… I just wanted to say it," Lynx said with a shrug. "I mean, you, like saved me and all."_

_Junjie did remember it. Thirteen years ago, Lynx had been but a poor orphan that lived off the streets of Gongmen City. That was until Junjie found him. The feline displayed quite remarkable agility and craftiness as he managed to steal some food from a marketplace that Junjie was visiting._

_The youngster managed to fend off and knock out some of the city guards that eventually pursued him and managed to escape from the rest._

_Impressed, Junjie offered the ruling peacock family to get rid of the lynx, which they eventually agreed on. But instead of defeating him and bringing him to the palace's dungeon, Junjie told the lynx to wait for him on the other side of the city's walls._

_After receiving the reward he had been promised, Junjie rejoined the young feline and the two left together. Before long Junjie had started training the young feline, but Lynx hadn't always been with Junjie – eventually Junjie had even sent him off to train with other Masters once the fox had found the time right._

_But now Lynx was a part of Junjie's team for the Rising Phoenix Tournament._

_"I didn't exactly save you," Junjie said somewhat sternly. "If I hadn't met you, I'm certain you would have been able to take care of yourself… But I'm glad you will – you are one of the better students I have had over the years."_

* * *

"Mantis of the Furious Five and Lynx of the Selected Six!" Master Chao announced and Lynx quickly got up. The feline was ready – pumped – for the competition! He surely would do his best.

Making his way into the arena, Lynx mentally prepared himself – he surely wouldn't lose this one; he was up against Mantis! Once he was finally inside the circle of the arena, Lynx was ready, doing a little bit of stretching with his arms.

Mantis soon landed in front of Lynx and the two Masters quickly bowed for one another and the sound of the gong was heard; the battle had begun.

Lynx and Mantis both took on a battle stance, waiting for the opponent to make the first move. Growing impatient since Mantis didn't Lynx decided to be the first to attack.

Lynx jumped forwards with a punch, which Mantis blocked with his claws. Grabbing Lynx's hand in a hold, Mantis eventually threw him into the air, trying to knock down the feline.

Knowing that he would eventually hit the ground with his head, Lynx quickly managed to turn himself around in the air, so that he landed on his feet. Quickly getting his hand out of Mantis' hold, he bowed down to deliver some punches to the insect.

Realizing that Mantis was able to block all of his attacks, Lynx decided to play a more unpredictable play and, suddenly turned around in a circle, his leg barely touching the ground. But he did manage to hit Mantis, knocking the latter sideways.

Getting back up and doing a battle position, Lynx just barely dodged as Mantis jumped towards him with a kick. The insect was incredibly fast and combined with his size, he would have been impossible to dodge.

But soon Mantis repeated the technique from various directions, hitting Lynx several times with powerful kicks. Lynx saw no other option than to blind Mantis in order to dodge.

In order to do this, Lynx swept his leg in a circle across the ground around him. This created a somewhat small cloud of dust, but it was still enough to make Mantis miss. Still being able to see Mantis when he landed, Lynx threw a punch towards the insect.

Mantis still managed to dodge and grabbed a hold of Lynx's hand once more, but Lynx was prepared for that.

On purpose Lynx dropped onto the ground, hitting it hard enough to cause a minor cloud of dust to erupt. Just before he landed, Lynx quickly stretched out the arm that Mantis held onto as far as he could.

For a moment, the crowd turned completely silent, not saying a word. As soon as the dust cloud vanished, it could be witnessed that Lynx had tricked Mantis. Sure Lynx was lying flat on his back, but Mantis' current position was what determined the match; Mantis was holding on to Lynx's arm, but he was standing outside the ring!

Lynx's arm wasn't touching the ground, thus meaning that Mantis had lost.

"And the winner is Master Lynx of the Selected Six!" The crowd started cheering, kind of surprising Lynx as his team usually didn't get this much support from the crowd. But this day it seemed like it had been turned around!

Chuckling happily to himself Lynx made his way over to the bench again and so did Mantis. Following this, Junjie sent Shifu a teasing smile of victory, but the red panda chose to ignore it.

Once again, everyone turned to Master Chao as he chose the next fighters. "The next contestant of the Furious Five is… Po, the Dragon Warrior."

At this the crowd went incredibly wild as most of them had hoped to see the Dragon Warrior fight – especially a certain goose.

"Yes! It's time to bring the awesome!" Po said happily and got up. He had certainly been looking forwards to taking part in the finals – his nervousness had still been there, but now it was completely gone.

"And of the Selected Six we have…" Master Chao stopped to draw the next name. Suddenly a surprised expression came across the reptilian's face. "Oh… Of Master Junjie's team, we have Master Cobra!"

* * *

_"You're not very good at sneaking, anyone ever told you that?" Junjie asked and stopped. Cobra found himself surprised due to the old Master being able to hear him this easily. This was the first time Cobra had ever been heard while sneaking, so it came as a surprise for him._

_"You managed to hear me?" Cobra asked surprised. He moved out from behind the tree had been hiding behind, revealing himself. Just as he did so, the red fox he had been following suddenly clapped his hands._

_The last thing Cobra saw was a golden light. But that was about it. "What was that?"_

_Junjie found himself surprised, then muttered to himself, "Reptilians, of course – heat vision."_

_"Why did you follow me?" Junjie demanded to know. The sixty years old Master was ready in case the reptilian had intended to attack him and would still try._

_"You're Master Junjie, right?" Cobra asked. Junjie slowly nodded, quickly repositioning his glasses. "Well, I came looking for you."_

_"What for?" Junjie asked suspiciously._

_"I wanted to ask if I could become your student," Cobra said. "Not necessarily full time, but just for some time. Your grandson told me about you."_

_"My grandson?" Junjie raised an eyebrow. "You know Jinshu?"_

_Cobra nodded. "He studies at the same academy as I."_

_Junjie thought about it all for a moment. In a sense it did seem illogical. "And yet you were hoping that I would teach you?"_

_"The academy is a waste of time," Cobra said. "If you're not as good as Junjie, you're not good at all – according to the teachers."_

_"Then let me see what I can make of you," Junjie said, instructing the reptilian to follow him._

* * *

Cobra stretched out his long snake body. He hadn't taken part in anything until this point, but finally it was happening. In a few quick striking motions, Cobra made his way into the arena, joining Po in the circle.

The two contestants quickly bowed to each other and soon the gong rang and the two started circling one another.

Maybe it was just Po's imagination, but for a moment he was certain he heard his father say, "Do your best son – you can do it!"

The strange thing was, however, that through the noise of the roaring crowd, it was as if Mr. Ping was standing right next to Po. This just brought Po extra strength and the panda felt like he could overcome anyone even Cobra (Wasn't hypnosis against the rules of the tournament?).

"Don't go easy, big guy," Cobra said and did a few fake strikes to intimidate Po. Po did react to them by reflex, but he didn't let himself be too intimidated.

"Never intended to," Po said daring and confidently, sending the reptilian a confident smile. Po was the first one to strike, throwing a punch towards Cobra.

Cobra swiftly dodged by forming a big loop with his long body, then as Po's fist hit the space, Cobra quickly twirled around his arm, making his across it. Cobra then launched himself off of Po's shoulder.

Jumping into the air, Cobra made himself spin around like a wheel, eventually whipping Po with his tail. The impact hit Po's chest, knocking him backwards and knocking all the air out of his lungs as well.

The sound of the impact was also powerful – a loud smack was heard throughout the arena and the entire crowd flinched – even the council.

Po almost lost balance, but as a similar attack approached, he jumped past Cobra, doing a roll on the ground. Getting up again, Po blocked several strikes from Cobra's tail.

Suddenly Cobra managed to flip Po into the air. Feeling deja vu, Po remembered when he had first arrived to the Jade Palace – one of his first training sessions back when Shifu still tried to get rid of him. Viper had performed a similar technique, so Po guessed that it was a Viper Style Attack.

Po remembered the experience somewhat hazily, but he remembered what was important – he remembered where Viper would hit. In a fraction of a moment, Po remembered this and managed to block the incoming attack while midair, thus evading the move that was to follow.

Po knew that the move would involve him being slammed to the ground again by Viper, so he was glad that he managed to avoid that. Landing back on his feet, Po watched as Cobra jumped into the air, intending to do a whip-attack again.

This time Po countered by jumping into the air and kicking Cobra somewhere in the middle of his long body. Due to almost being horizontal in the air with his head falling towards the ground, Po quickly used his hand to land, then made sure that he hit the ground securely with both of his feet.

Next Po quickly utilized the Feet of Fury technique before Cobra could refocus. Hitting the reptilian with several quick kicks, Po eventually landed one final, solid kick, sending the reptilian flying. The reptilian tried to change course midair, but when he landed, he found himself at least ten centimeter out of the arena circle.

The crowd immediately went wild, cheering for Po – the loudest they had cheered all day. Po smiled as he realized that he had just won his match. At first he had honestly been afraid that he'd lose to Cobra's quick whip techniques.

"Nice going," Po told Cobra as the two bowed to each other one final time.

"Thanks, you weren't bad either, Dragon Warrior," Cobra told Po and the two walked down to sit by their benches.

As he did, Po looked to the sidelines and saw Mr. Ping. Sending him a wide smile, Po waved at the old goose, who seemed overjoyed with his son's recent win. Po knew this tournament would be easy to win with all the extra strength and happily joined his friends on the bench.


	17. Finals IV: Viper VS Gorilla

**A/N: **Hi guys! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, sorry about that, and also sorry about this chapter being somewhat short. I just felt like making a cliffhanger, somewhat - I haven't done that for a while. But... yeah, I hope you'll like this chapter. :)

* * *

_Gorilla slowly made his way through the archives, trying his best to not be seen. There weren't guards guarding the archives or anything, but the primate had heard a few council members enter and exit. And for all he knew, Gorilla wasn't allowed to read anything within the archives._

_ Listening closely, Gorilla heard the archive door shut once again as the last council member exited to head for the arena. Gorilla had patiently ben waiting for this and finally started walking more casually._

_ "I see you're still the same." Gorilla jumped in surprise and just barely managed to avoid turning over a big vase. To his relief it was just Junjie._

_ "Oh, Master," Gorilla sighed with relief. "It's just you."_

_ "Indeed it is, Junjie said calmly. "But what if it weren't?"_

_ "Then I would be dead."_  
_ "Exactly, my student," Junjie said, chuckling for some reason. He then turned to face another direction. "Your hunger for knowledge doesn't know a limit, does it?"_

_ "I guess not," Gorilla admitted. True, Gorilla had always been intelligent, Junjie thought. But this intelligence had also been a weakness of his at one point._

_ About twenty-one years ago, Junjie had first met the young gorilla, who at that time was eighteen years old. The latter had been living in a fairly large village a bit from the Valley of Peace – somewhere in between that and Gongmen City. In said village, Gorilla had grown up. He had always been bullied by his peers for being different._

_ In what way had he been different? Well, unlike his peers, Gorilla had always found great interest and entertainment in reading – even when he was still very young._

_ One day – the day that Junjie traveled through the village – he came across Gorilla. He saw how he was being mocked by some other people, and at first Junjie paid little to no attention to it._

_ However, this had taken an unexpected turn of events. What had happened was that Gorilla had finally had enough of their bullying and had ended up beating them up rather badly._

_ In itself it had been quite a sight, but to Junjie, it hadn't been a horrible thing… No, to the red fox, it had been quite the impressive feat. Once the angered gorilla had realized what he had done, he ran off._

_ Having been as impressed as he had, Junjie had eventually found him._

_ "Go away," Gorilla had said. "I'll just end up hurting you."_

_ As Junjie had walked closer, he had noticed how Gorilla seemed to be struggling with his movement – as if his rage was a completely different being that lived inside of him. "You cannot hurt me."_

_ "But to be fairly honest," Junjie had said. "I was impressed with what you just did."_

_ "Impressed?" Gorilla had asked. "I'm a monster."_

_ "Monster? No, not quite," Junjie had told Gorilla. "You are not the monster, but I can teach you how to tame the monster."_

_ And so Junjie had. From that day, he had started training Gorilla how to tame his anger – how to conceal it, even when annoyed. And eventually Gorilla progressed to where he was today – clearly the calmest member of the Selected Six._

_ "But that may also be your strong side," Junjie told Gorilla. "I expect just as much from you today as I have the others."_

_ "Of course, Master," Gorilla said, bowing to his Master. "I will do my best."_

_ "I'm certainly glad to hear that," Junjie said. "Now, go get dressed up – the finals will soon begin."_

_ "Yes Master."_

* * *

"And the next contestants will be Master Viper of the Furious Five and Master Gorilla of the Selected Six!" The crowd started cheering and Viper started mentally preparing herself. This was the first time she was taking part in the tournament and… Well, this being the finals probably wasn't a good thing.

Viper wasn't quite used to performing in front of a lot of people. When she was young she had performed with her ribbon dancing, but since she became a student at Jade Palace, she hadn't done so since. She had performed in front of a crowd the day she and her friends were at the Dragon Tournament at Jade Palace, but since then, she hadn't.

Viper was glad that she even got to take part in the tournament though; as mentioned, this was the first time she would fight.

As she got into the center of the arena and faced Gorilla, she couldn't help but feel how deja vu rushed through her. She remembered when she was younger and had beat up a gorilla brat that her father had failed to defeat… Even then, she was very young.

But Viper shook it off her mind as she and Gorilla bowed to each other.

"Contestants ready?" Master Chao stopped shortly. "Begin!"

Viper jumped into the air, ready to attack, but before she could get to it, Gorilla started out with a punch. Still in the air, Viper formed a wheel with her entire body, so that Gorilla's punch hit the space in between.

Viper then spun her body around and coiled herself around Gorilla's fist and tried to use his massive weight to toss him around. But as she tried this, Gorilla counter-used his own weight to land safely back on his feet. After shaking her off, Gorilla spun around in a circle and smashed a punch toward Viper.

Gracefully jumping into the air in a fashion similar to ribbon dancing, Viper managed to Dodge Gorilla's attack. Viper then rotated her body and smashed her tail towards Gorilla – her equivalent of a punch.

Gorilla blocked it, but before he could do anything else, Viper jumped towards him, grabbed a hold of his arm with her entire body, then threw him into the air. Viper followed shortly, then spinning around like a wheel, smashing the tip of her tail against Gorilla, knocking him to the ground.

Gorilla landed on his left hand, then pushed himself off the ground, and while airborne he delivered a kick with his right foot. The kick hit successfully, and if Viper hadn't pressed herself against the ground to brake, she would most likely already have lost by being sent out of the ring.

"That was close!" Po said, sounding impressed.

"Certainly," Crane agreed.

"How'll she do this?" Po gestured towards Gorilla. "That guy is enormous compared to her!"

"Don't you remember?" Shifu asked Po. At first Po didn't know what the old Master was taking about, but then Shifu said, "She's defeated equally large enemies before; she can do it again."

"Oh, right!" Po said, realizing this. "Of course she can win!"

"We'll see," Junjie and Jinshu chuckled in unison. Now it was clearer than ever how much Jinshu resembled his grandfather.

Meanwhile, Viper and Gorilla continued their battle. Letting the lower part of her body rest on the ground, Viper moved her upper body back and forth and from side to side in quick movements to dodge Gorilla's attacks.

Then when Viper finally got the chance, she launched herself forwards. She turned herself around midair, delivering a strike that resulted in a loud smacking sound.

Gorilla shortly stumbled backwards, but then Viper jumped forth and wrapped her body around his torso and attempted to literally throw him out of the ring. But Gorilla was fast; he quickly poked Viper two places with his powerful places, causing her muscles to go numb for a moment.

This caused Viper to lose her grip and before long, she was sent flying by a punch to her mid-section. However, Viper managed to turn herself around midair and as she spun around vigorously, she shot towards Gorilla like a living spear.


End file.
